THE PRINCIPLES 



O F^ 



The Religious Like 



O R 



AN EXPLICATION OF 



THE CATECHISM OF THE VOWS. 



BY . / 

THE REV. PETER COTEL, S.J. 

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY 

Iv. W. RKILIvY. 







iv^fcV^Z- 



B A L T IMORE: 

JOHN B. F> I E T, 

304 East 21st Street. 
1894. 




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A 



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?B» LIBRARY 

>* Congress 



Imprimatur : 



J. Card. GIBBONS, 

Arch. Bait. 



Baltimore, Feb. 26th, 1894. 



COPYRIGHT, 1894. 
JOHN B. PIET. 



INTRODUCTION. 

It is not hard to show that all the principles of the 
religious life are connected with the profession of the 
vows that are made therein ; because these vows already 
include its chief obligations; and any explanation of 
them, done as it should be, even though brief, inevitably 
touches all the others. 

Xow, in the little treatise which we published under 
the title, u The Catechism of the Vows,'* our purpose 
was only to state very briefly these principles and these 
obligations of the religious life. It was simply an ele- 
mentary work which we designed for all persons who 
live in the religious state, and we hoped that its useful- 
ness would be all the more general, for the reason that 
its very brevity would make it easy to learn and to 
remember. And, as it turned out, we have had the con- 
solation to see the little book find its way, in the course of 
a few years, into a large number of religious communi- 
ties. 

But a Catechism usually makes necessary an explica- 
tion. On the other hand, it cannot tell everything to the 
teachers of it, who, nevertheless, have need, in order to 
expound an abridgment with more confidence and profit, 
to know beyond what it contains. Accordingly, a num- 
ber of persons, whose duty it is to explain to others u The 
Catechism of the Vows," have expressed to us their 
regret that questions of such importance were presented 
by it with such conciseness. At least they would be glad 
to find elsewhere the same subjects with developments 
apt to elucidate them. 



VI 



We have tried to meet their need by the publication of 
this new volume. Instead of confining ourselves to the 
plan of indicating the distinguished writers who treat of 
these matters, and of letting every one have the trouble 
of hunting here and there for the quotations which they 
want, we have, as it were, placed these in their hands, in 
the same order in which they were referred to in the 
Catechism itself; and without repeating the points, which, 
in our judgment, are there sufficiently set forth, we have 
here added whatever has seemed to us to be required for 
an understanding of the others. 

Among the authorities whom we summon to the sup- 
port of our statements, the Angel of the Schools, Saint 
Thomas, is the one that we cite most often and most 
gladly, because, in religious questions, no teaching is 
more sure, more lucid, or more full than his. It is true 
that, because of this reliance on the Angelic Doctor, there 
results a teaching whose gravity is not equally accessible 
to all persons ; but those for whom we intend it princi- 
pally will know how to accommodate it to the intelli- 
gence of those whom they are instructing in it. 



TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 

The number of persons in this country following the 
evangelical counsels has marvelously increased within 
the past decade by reason of the recent introduction of 
Congregations from abroad, and by the spread of the 
Orders that have long been here. And lately, too, a nota- 
ble fertility of vocations has crowded novitiates with 
postulants prospecting the way of perfection, and eager 
to mount to its loftiest heights. Therefore the publica- 
tion of this treatise is most opportune. For every per- 
son in religion — novice or professed, subject or superior — 
needs to know precisely how far the conscience is bound 
by the vows of that holy state, the means of spiritual 
progress that it offers, the obligations and the privileges 
of the celestial call to it, and the other principles of the 
religious life. This information is all here, and is set 
forth with luminous simplicity. 

Other authors have treated this same subject, but the 
works of only a few of them are accessible to American 
readers, nor have they all the clearness, the accuracy and 
brevity that distinguish the production of the Eev. Father 
Cotel. These qualities have made his book so popular in 
France that it has passed through several editions and 
won for it unstinted praise from most competent judges. 

That this English version may approach the usefulness 
of the original, is the heartfelt wish of 

THE TRANSLATOR. 

Hanover, Md., March 25, 1894. 



The Principles of the Religious Life; 

OR, THE EXPLANATION OF THE 

CATECHISM OF THE TOWS. 



PART FIRST. 

ON THE VOWS OF RELIGION IN GENERAL. 

The object of this first part is to explain the 
most fundamental principles of the religious 
life. The little "Catechism of the Vows" could, 
as it were, only point out these principles; 
we shall now endeavor to give them all the 
light which their importance requires. 

CHAPTEE I. 

GENERAL IDEA OF THE VOW, CONSIDERED IN THE 
VOWS OF RELIGION. 

ARTICLE I. 

DEFINITION OF THE VOW. 

A vow is defined as a deliberate promise made 
to God of an act better than its opposite. 

Let us consider the great practical lessons 
that spring from this definition. 
1 



2 



Section I. — The Void is a Promise. 

Among the promises which men are wont, to 
make among themselves, three kinds may be 
distinguished; the simple promise, the promise 
of honor, and the promise of contract. In the 
first, a man binds himself but with this mental 
reservation: "If I can do so easily, if no ob- 
stacle arise/' In the second, the word given 
involved the man's honor; a serious impedi- 
ment would be required for him to believe him- 
self and for him to be considered by others 
free from this engagement. But the third 
promise, once legitimately made and accepted, 
constitutes a formal claim of justice; failure 
to keep it renders a person liable to be cited to 
court. 

Very nearly the same may be said of the 
promises we make to the Lord. It may be a 
simple promise, as for example, to undertake 
in order to please Him some supererogatory 
work of piety. The same reservation is im- 
plied, namely: "If nothing hinders me/' or, 
at least I have no intention to bind myself 
under pain of sin. 

We often make to God the promise of fulfill- 
ing towards Him an already existing obliga- 
tion. It is a resolution we thus formulate in 
His presence, for the purpose of exciting our- 
selves to do our duty; it is no new obligation 
that we intend to impose upon ourselves. 

Sometimes adding solemnity to this acknow- 
ledgment of an engagement already contracted, 



we protest before witnesses that our will is to 
fulfill it: it then becomes like a promise of 
honor, the effect of which is to tighten the 
bond of conscience, but not to double it ; such 
are the promises of baptism, improperly called 
vows ; such is especially the public renewal of 
them made in certain circumstances of life ; 

such also is the ceremonv of the renovation of 

1/ 

vows when they have not ceased to exist. No 
new obligation is imposed thereby on the con- 
science. 

A promise made to God that may properly 
be called the promise of honor, is for example., 
the act of consecration made on entering into 
some pious association ; for, although certain 
promises are made then, even with some solem- 
nity, the conscience is not bound thereby, and 
no obligation under pain of sin is contracted. 

I speak of simple associations of piety; for 
there are in the Church some associations con- 
stituted bv it, such as the Congregation of St. 
Sulpice, of the Oratory, etc., in which without 
any vows being made, it could happen that a 
promise of stability, would become an affair of 
conscience, because a person would thereby have 
bound himself to that extent to the boclv of 
men with whom he desired to be associated. 

But there is also towards God the promise of 
contract, and that is the vow, which comes 
then, as such, to impose by itself a new r bond 
on the conscience. We shall soon appreciate 
the gravity of this promise made to God Him- 
self. Let us say here only this that if there is 



no intention of binding oneself under pain of 
sin, there is no vow; and, indeed, if you be 
not certain of your intention in promising, 
your conscience is not bound by a doubtful ob- 
ligation. 

Section II.— The Vow is a deliberate promise. 

By a deliberate act is understood one that pre- 
sents these three essential conditions: know- 
ledge of what we are doing, determination of the 
will, and the power to do otherwise, if we so de- 
sired. It therefore belongs to the essence of the 
vow that it should be an act entirely delib- 
erate, for otherwise it would not exist. 

I. — A vow requires the sufficient knowledge 
of what is promised to God. It even calls for 
mature consideration by the mind and a suita- 
ble appreciation; for as St. Thomas observes: 
"It is an act of reason, to which belongs the 
right to act with order." (1) This is why dis- 
cretion is so necessary therein, that oftentimes 
the advice of prudent persons should be sought 
beforehand, because in treating with God levity 
and blundering are equally out of place. Un- 
fortunately this is not always thought of by 
those who make vows. 

But this condition becomes much more indis- 
pensable to the vows of religion, which are so 
great an act of the free will and an engage- 
ment for the entire life. It is especially for 
those vows that a clear and precise knowledge 

(1) Votum est actus rationis, ad quam pertinet ordinare. 
2a, 2ae, q. 88, a. 1. 



of what is promised is required. Hence, it is 
the duty of superiors and masters of novices 
to fully instruct the aspirant to the religious 
life concerning it, to disguise nothing therein 
to him, not to seek to surprise him ; an affair 
of this nature should not be treated of by 
stealth, through calculation of temporal interest 
or through human or earthly prudence; hence 
also it is the duty of the postulant and the 
novice to examine into the requirements of 
that state of life, to interrogate in his doubts, 
and to clearly know how things are. 

If the person who makes the vows were igno- 
rant of some point belonging to their substance 
or of some circumstance of such a nature, that 
if known to him, it would change his determi- 
nation, his vows would be null through want 
of knowledge. 

II. — The consent of the will is necessary for 
any vow^ and for the vows of religion a very 
special consent is necessary, and this consent 
should be preceded by a trial of one's strength 
during at least one whole year. Not only is 
this a prescription of the Church, but even a 
condition made by it, without which the vows 
of religion would not be valid. (1) 

This consent rests on & first and a second pro- 
bation. The first probation, whether consisting 
of a certain number of days forming a part of 
the novitiate, or preceding it under the name 
of postulate, has for its object to make a first 

(1) Council of Trent, Sess. 25, On Reform, c. 15. 
1* 



6 

examination, in order to know the vocation of 
God and to sound one's own heart. Therein 
one deliberates with oneself and with the supe- 
riors of the Order or of the Congregation; and 
the candidate should notice well that he must 
do his part in this deliberation, just as the 
Order is bound to do its. 

The part of the candidate consists only in 
seeing if he tvills, according to these words of 
Our Lord to the young man of the Gospel: 
"If thou wilt be perfect." (Matt, xix, 21), 
still as it is a question also of a vocation on the 
part of God, and as Our Lord also said: "You 
have not chosen me: but I have chosen you," 
(John xv, 16), the candidate for the religious 
life sounds his will to discover if God wills 
conjointly with himself and consequently if 
he himself wills rightly, that is by the impulse 
of God, Who is the principal cause of Man's 
good will. (*) The ordinary means for him to 
verify this capital point if by examining two 
things: the first, if he wills according to right 
reason, that is, without his purpose being a 
passing whim or a simple flight of the imagi- 
ation, and without his overlooking some obli- 
gation of a nature to detain him by rights else- 
where; the second, if he wills purely and truly 
for God, not allowing himself to be influenced 
by human or defective motives. 

Such should be the part of the candidate in 
which a director or superiors may be necessary 

* For it is God who worketh in you, both to will and to 
accomplish, according to His good will. Philippians, ii, 13. 



7 

in order to help him by their lights and to 
keep illusions from him, but in which no one 
can supply the indecision of his will. 

The part of the Order is to judge whether 
this same candidate is fitted to this vocation, 
and to pronounce definitively whether or not 
there is a true call from God: for, finally, grace 
could inspire a good desire, without always 
willing its execution, since the good desire is 
already a meritorious act and may become 
profitable to the soul in more than one respect. 
The superiors of the Order therefore examine 
the aptitudes of the subject relatively to their 
own institute: aptitudes of body as to health, 
strength, etc.; aptitudes of the mind as to 
uprightness and solidity, as to accomplish- 
ments acquired or dispositions to acquire them; 
aptitudes of the heart as to inclinations, habits 
and character. The candidate must under- 
stand that here the role of judge no longer be- 
longs to him, because in wishing to render the 
verdict himself, he could fall into error, through 
ignorance or presumption or even through ex- 
cess of diffidence. His only duty is to answer 
with candor the questions put to him, and 
honestly to make himself known. 

The second probation, or the novitiate, by put- 
ting the candidate to the trial of the religious 
life and its difficulties, according to the insti- 
tute, has as its end to confirm the choice of that 
state of life, the admission into the Order and 
the vocation as a whole. And in fact, this 
trial, provided that the novice gives himself 



8 

to it with fidelity, will furnish a demonstra- 
tion leaving no doubts; to the point that even 
had something been wanting to the work of 
the first probation, if the second proceed as it 
should, vainly shall the tempter come later on 
to strive to trouble the soul; rightfully, then, 
can the novice be told, whatever mav have 
been the first deliberation: "Now you have 
knowingly persevered in this vocation when 
better known; you have sought therein God 
and your perfection ; there, has been then, not 
only a ratification of the first act, but also a 
supplement to any defect therein to be found. 
The novice must remark that, his first proba- 
tion once ended, it is his duty no longer to 
deliberate, as . if he had always to fix his 
choice, since this indecision would paralyze 
all the effort of his will, but rather to undergo 
with courage the trials of the novitiate and to 
acquire the virtues and habits of the religious 
life, according to the institute to which God 
calls him. 

III. — The act of the vow must be free and 
exempt from all constraint; but it is above 
all for the vows of religion that the most 
entire liberty is essential to him who pro- 
nounces them; otherwise the Church does not 
accept them and they remain without value. 
Not only would all pressure from without, such 
as threats, violence or dread cause the nullity 
of the act, but the same would be true of that 
fear which is called reverential, if it really 
hindered the liberty of the subject. The 



9 

Church watches over this point especially for 
the benefit of the timid sex and it has or- 
dained that the Bishop shall ascertain by an 
examination the fullness of this liberty. (1) 

Section III. — The Vow is a 'promise made to God. 

" I will pay my vows to the Lord." (2) This 
is a very serious thought with which it is im- 
portant to be well penetrated before making a 
vow, and no less important not to forget after 
having made it: the vow is a promise made to 
God Himself. 

But assuredly when the vows of religion are 
concerned, this thought deserves the fullest 
consideration. Let us show that if it weighs 
on the soul, it also is apt to dilate it. 

The vows of religion are, then, a strict 
engagement which, man makes, and for life, 
towards God Himself; but we must acid that 
reciprocal promises are made therein and that 
God on His side condescends to engage Him- 
self towards men,, so that the profession of 
these vows may be called a synallagmatic con- 
tract made between God and man. Therefore 
the religious may and should say to himself: 

iC I have made a contract with God, thence 
come my obligation, but God has also deigned 
to make a contract with me; hence my advan- 
tages." 

I. — I have made a contract with God, I have 
made a promise to God Himself and not to 

(1) Council of Trent, Sess. 25, On Reform, c. 17. 

(2) I will pay my vows to the Lord. Psalm exv. 



10 

men. Whence I must draw this first conse- 
quence; the accomplishment of myipromise, 
therefore, may in no wise depend upon the 
conduct of men towards me. In vain would 
I seek to give such efficacy to a wrong inflicted 
on me by my superior, equals, or any one else, 
as to believe myself dispensed from my prom- 
ise made to God; the consideration of any 
other than Himself can serve as no excuse and 
be of no value. 

I have made a promise to God and it is the 
Almighty Who has taken notice of my obliga- 
tion; He has entered it in His book, and no 
one can efface it. He keeps it to produce it 
some day, on that day on which He will make 
me render an account of its execution. (1) 

I have made a promise to God and He is the 
All Seeing. He penetrates the darkness and 
the depths of hearts: He sees the failings suc- 
cessfully hidden from the eyes of men; He 
knows the whitened sepulchres which enclose 
rottenness. Nothing can escape His eye, 
neither the most secret recesses of the soul, 
nor the least offences of unfaithfulness ; and 
He calls Himself the jealous God, Who exacts 
all that has been promised to Him, and who 
hates rapine in the holocaust. 

I have made a promise to God and He is the 
Immutable Being. Ah ! this is the point to be 
insisted on, for man is so inconstant. He is 
as the leaf carried off by the wind, and what 
he wills to-day, too often he wills it not to- 

(1) Vow ye and pay to the Lord. Psalm lxxv. 



11 

morrow; and this inconstancy appears more 
common now than ever. Nevertheless when 
a promise has been made to God, it must be 
kept, and once engaged towards Him, it is 
done, the religious cannot retract. Apostasy! 
What a word ! yet it is the correct word, the 
expression of the Church. Alas! some minds 
will yet goon imagining that they may change 
in this almost as one changes one's garments. 
You who have made a promise to God, you wish, 
because some unpleasantness has occurred, to 
go back. You have become disgusted with 
your holy state ; at the least inconvenience yoa 
are heard to say: '"If it is thus I shall get 
out." Hearken to Him Who has received 
your promise: "I am the Lord and I change 
not." (1) Hear the Prince of the Apostles : 
" Why hath Satan tempted thy heart, that 
thou shouldst lie to the Holy Ghost, and to 
keep back what no longer belongs to thee? 
Before engaging thyself, wast thou not free? 
Why hast thou conceived this thing in thy 
heart? Thou hast lied not to men but to 
God." (2) And we know what was the chas- 
tisement of Ananias and Sapphira. 

(1) For I am the Lord and I change not. Malachias, iii, 6. 

(2) Why hath Satan tempted thy heart that thou shouldst 
lie to the Holy Ghost and by fraud keep part of the price 
of the land ? Whilst it remained did it not remain to thee ? 
And after it was sold, was it not in thy power ? Why hast 
thou conceived this thing in thy heart ? Thou hast not 
lied to men but to God. And Ananias hearing these words 
fell down and gave up the ghost. Acts, v, 3, 4, 5. 



12 

However we do not speak here of what would 
be altogether a suggestion of the tempter: or, 
if we must speak of it, it is only to warn the 
religious of two things : The first of these is 
that in view of the gravity of this temptation 
it requires to be repulsed at its first onset, and 
that, if possible it should not even be listened 
to. The second of these is that the utmost care 
should be taken not to give rise through one's 
own fault to this temptation or to foment it by 
sadness, by wilful disgust, by susceptibilities or 
dislikes, by resistance to authority, by habit- 
ual violation of holy Rule. It is a most griev- 
ous thing wilfully to expose one's own fidelity, 
and among all the temptations that attack a 
religious none is more dangerous since none 
can cause him so great a harm. 

Therefore no matter how short a time this 
temptation lasts, the religious is under obli- 
gation to make it known to whoever has the 
right to his confidences; this is often the only 
remedy for the evil and the most efficacious. 
Disclosing it to one's brethren is rigorously for- 
bidden by charity: it would be a most blame- 
worthy scandal as it would be like inoculating 
them with poison. Let us add further, that 
such confidences made to equals, even without 
an evil intention, almost always becomes hurt- 
ful to them ; and besides, generally speaking, 
none of them has the grace to cure wounds of 
this kind. Finally, there is a serious duty of 
charity, for whosoever sees his brother in this 



13 

peril — to notify the superior in order that he 
may hasten to his help. 

Since we are considering so important a 
point, it behooves us to indicate the remedies 
to be resorted to by the persons themselves 
that, are urged to unfaithfulness to their voca- 
tion by disgust of their state of life, by relax- 
ation, or by the temptation of the enemy. 

The first remedy is seriously to return to the 
consideration of God's fright: U I have given 
myself, it is done, and hesitation is no longer 
lawful. To the repugnances of my evil nature, 
to the impulses of him who seeks to ruin me, 
I will reply by the energy of my will. I have, 
it is true, through my fault, allowed that en- 
ergy to become weakened; but I am still free 
and master of myself, with God's help. Far 
from losing heart, as if it had become impos- 
sible for me to will now what I willed formerly, 
I shall rest on the infallible certitude of this 
double truth, that when God commands any- 
thing from me it is possible for me, and that 
He Himself Who imposes the duty is certainly 
present with His grace, if I only ask it, to 
help me to fulfill the obligation. (1) 

A second remedy is the consideration of the 
chastisement which, ordinarily, even in this 
life, befalls the soul faithless to its promise. 
You feel the present suffering and your imagi- 

(1) For God does not demand what is impossible, but 
when ordering warns you to do what you can and to seek 
what you cannot, and He will aid you in order that you 
can. Council of Trent, Sess. G., Ca. 10. 
2 



14 

nation fails not still more to exaggerate it. 
Pray, I might first say to you, only compare 
it with the sufferings far heavier otherwise to 
which the world condemns its own in positions 
from which there is no escape. And, finally, 
whatever may be your actual situation, are 
you quite certain that your lot will be bettered 
by unfaithfulness? Do you not know, on the 
contrary, what is almost always shown by ex- 
perience? And instead of profiting yourself 
by these sad lessons, would you wish to add 
one more example to them? 

A third remedy, the sweetness of which will 
be more efficacious, is the consideration of the 
reciprocal promises made to you by God. But, 
first, I wish to impart to you a precious secret 
as a help, in general, in the difficulties to be 
met in the service of God. This secret con- 
sists in never looking at things except on their 
bright side. For every object in all the require- 
ments of duty or virtue, presents two aspects 
and, as it were, two faces. One frightens our 
will, the other attracts it. Here, for example, 
you experience repugnance, because you look 
at the painful side, which presents the obliga- 
tion or the difficulty; but rather make efforts 
to see the agreeable aspect which shows you 
a signal benefit of God, and your heart will 
be strengthened thereby; esteem and gratitude 
will be powerful aids in restoring the love of 
vocation; prayer will do the rest. 

II. — God has deigned to make a contract 
with me. 



15 

In the promise given we have seen the obli- 
gation; but there is also the promise received; 
it is equally just to consider its profits and 
advantages. For to wish to consider in this 
contract only what weighs on us would be a 
pusillanimity both unreasonable, hurtful to us 
and offensive to God. Yes, doubtless, every 
honor obliges, every lucrative position or oner- 
ous contract imposes charges. But let us cast 
our eyes on worldlings themselves; do they 
obtain anything for nothing? Is it not true 
that they that pursue fortune or glory look 
more to the gain than the pain? "And for 
them/' says the Apostle, "it is question only 
of a passing interest, whilst for us eternity is 
at stake." (1) 

It is then true, that at the moment that I 
pledged my word to the Lord, He simultane- 
ously engaged Himself to me. 

God has made a contract with me : shall I 
ever be able to sufficiently understand the 
honor granted me thereby by the King of 
kings? Whilst so many others are only com- 
mon servants, He has admitted me into His 
house that I might be in the ranks of His 
familiars; He has appointed me one of the 
officers of His palace; still more by this con- 
tract He has raised my soul to the dignity of 
spouse ! Could it be possible for me to cease, 

(1 ) And they indeed strive for the mastery that they may 
receive a corruptible crown ; but we an incorruptible one. 
I Cor. ix, 25. 



16 

for a single day, to appreciate this honor and 
wish to correspond to it? 

God, sovereignly faithful to His promises, 
has made a contract with me ; whatever may 
be my weakness, I can count upon Him for the 
strength I need in my vocation. Whatever 
the difficulties; He shall always be at hand 
ready to sustain me; He Himself assures me 
of this by the mouth of an Apostle. (1) 

God, the Almighty, has made a contract 
with me, and I have become His especial prop- 
erty by the complete gift that I have made to 
Him of my whole self. Now, when this Great 
God owns anything, He guards it, and there 
is no one strong enough to snatch it away from 
His Hands. (2) 

God, the All-seeing, has made a contract 
with me; none of the least of my services will 
escape His notice, and all shall be faithfully, 
minutely counted. No good action, however 
small, no good intention, no good movement 
of my heart, no good desire even will be either 
forgotten or of no value in His sight. 

God, the Immutable, has made a contract 
with me. Ah! this is the great cause of my 
confidence ! For I need only to keep myself 
firmly attached to Him, and I thereby lose my 
natural instability. This was strongly felt 
by St. Paul, the Apostle: "I am sure/' ex- 
claimed he, with a marvellous assurance, "that 

(1) God is faithful, by whom you are called. I Cor. i, 9. 

(2) No man can snatch out of the hands of my Father. 
John, x, 29. 



17 

nothing can separate me from the love of my 
God." (1) And is this not for me too, wretched 
though I am, a truth proved by experience? 
This cupidity, this sensuality, this idolatry 
of one's own will, which so easily draw into 
disorders the poor souls who stay in the midst 
of the world and which have, perhaps, also 
formerly carried me away very far, what can 
they do against my heart now since it has 
attached itself to God and bound itself by this 
holy promise? This heart feels that it is free, 
it is steadfast notwithstanding its natural 
weakness, it struggles easily against inclina- 
tions thought to be indomitable by others, it 
contemns without effort or regret the goods, 
the honors, and the delights of the world; 
finally it is so faithful to duty that entire 
years often pass by without a single fault of 
any gravity to deplore. Whence these prodi- 
gies ! It is God who with His mighty Hand 
upholds His frail creature. "He has promised 
it, he has done it says the prophet. " (2) For 
this reason, rightly can I ever exclaim with 
David: "Yes, truly it is good for me to stick 
close to my God." (3) 

(1) For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, 
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor 
things to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any 
other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love 
of God. Romans, viii, 38, 39. 

(2) I the Lord have spoken and have doue it. Ezech. 
xvii, 24. 

(3) It is good for me to stick close to my God. Ps. lxxii. 

2* 



18 



Finally God, the infinitely rich and liberal 
Master, has made a contract with me. Men 
may have thought that I gave Him much by 
my sacrifice, but whatsoever I had to offer 
Him, what in reality was it for such a Lord 
and in comparison with what He wished to 
render to me? Ah! It is here, as says St. 
Paul, that we must remember the words of 
the Lord Jesus Himself declaring that it is 
better to give than to receive. (1) When a 
great king accepts a present it is because He 
Himself wishes to give; he bestows an honor 
first, by the very fact of having deigned to 
accept and he afterwards adds those returns of 
royal magnificence which he measures accord- 
ing to his dignity. When it is to God we 
give, we at once receive His Love in exchange, 
as the Apostle teaches: "God loveth a cheer- 
ful giver;" (2) and the love of God, besides 
its own value which is above all other trea- 
sures, becomes the source of all goods, since 
the Being infinitely rich cannot love any one 
without wishing to enrich him. The liberality 
of Our God awaits only ours towards Him to 
satisfy its infinite need of pouring itself out 
upon us. If then, in the promise I have made 
to Him, I have offered all that I had and all 
that I was, He on His side, has engaged Him- 
self to give me with a hundredfold in this 

(1) You ought to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, 
how He said, "It is a more blessed thing to give rather 
than to receive." Acts xx, 35. 

(2) II Cor. ix, 7. 



19 

world and the abundance of His graces, that 
treasure in Heaven which is no other than 
Himself, the Ocean of all joys and all felici- 
ties. (1) 

Section IV. — The vow is the promise of a bet- 
ter act. 

We do not expatiate on these last words of 
the definition as they seem to us to have been 
sufficiently explained in the catechism itself. 

(2) _ 

ARTICLE II. 

THE VOW IS AN ACT OF THE VIRTUE OF RELIGION. 

This truth is only affirmed by the catechism: 
touching reflections will be furnished to religi- 
ous persons by its development. 

Section I. — The Vow belongs to Sacrifice. 

The excellence of the vow is evident from 
the fact that it is an act of the worship of 
latria, which is rendered only to God, in order 
to recognize His sovereign dominion and in- 
finite greatness. 

A promise can be made to the Blessed Virgin 
or to some Saint, but this promise will not, 
correctly speaking, be a vow, unless we bind 
ourselves for the honor of God, that is by 
assuming obligations towards Him under pain 
of sin. And it is precisely in this that the 

(1) lam . . . thy reward exceeding great. Genesis, xv, 1. 

(2) 1st Part, C. 1. 



20 

vows form a part of sacrifice, for there is then 
an immolation offered to God by the change 
effected in the object offered, in that it becomes 
by obligation a thing belonging to God. 

The vow is a special participation in the 
sacrifice of Jesus Christ, by pronouncing and 
executing it we do what St. Paul says: "We 
fill up what is wanting of the Passion of the 
Saviour in our flesh ;" (1) that is, we add the 
part that He reserved to us, to make us merit 
the application of His Divine Sacrifice. It is 
thus that at Mass, the bloody Sacrifice of Cal- 
vary is to be applied to men, by the unbloody 
sacrifice of the altar: because Mass is, at one 
and the same time, the oblation of the natural 
Body of Jesus Christ, and that of His mystical 
body which is the Christians: so that the im- 
molation of the Head is profitable especially 
to those members who are careful to offer 
themselves together with Him. This immola- 
tion of the members is nowhere so conspicu- 
ous as in martyrdom and in the sacrifice made 
by the vows of religion. Whence is seen that 
religious have a manner of their own of cele- 
brating or hearing Holy Mass, that of offering 
themselves as victims with Jesus Christ, by 
renewing the holocaust of their vows. 

Section II. — Of the Virtue of Religion. 

Religion, as is indicated by the very words, is 
the great virtue of a religious; at the moment 

(1) I fill up those things that are wanting of the suffer- 
ings of Christ in my flesh. Coloss. i, 24. 



21 

he pronounces his vows, it becomes the special 
virtue of his state. Hence the importance to 
him of thoroughly knowing both what it is 
and all concerning it. In order to instruct 
him more thoroughly about it, we are going to 
give an exposition of the beautiful teaching 
of St. Thomas on this virtue. (1) 

§ i- 

Religion, says the holy doctor, is a virtue 
forming a part of justice, and even its princi- 
pal part, it is the one by which man renders to 
God the worship and the homage that he owes 
Him. 

Let us insist on these two fundamental 
thoughts, they are most worthy of considera- 
tion by religious : 

. I. — Religion is a part of justice, for it belongs 
to justice to render to each one his due; and it 
is its principal part, for the first of our debts 
is without doubt that which places us under 
obligation to our Creator and God. 

Let us, then, represent to ourselves this 
Being and Supreme Lord, casting down His 
looks from the height of Heaven over the sur- 
face of the earth. He perceives three very dis- 
tinct classes of men. 

The first, alas ! is composed of those who 
disown, forget and offend Him: innumerable 
class of intelligent creatures, who by refusing 
to give to their Author the worship and the 

(1) 2a, 2se, q. 81, a. 1. 



22 

homage due to Him, violate the most essential 
duties of justice. 

The second class contains those, who, it is 
true, recognize Him for their Lord and do not 
deny His rights over them. But how rare is 
the resemblance of G-od among these men, all 
given over to their earthly interests! How 
small a place does the care of paying their 
debt to Him occupy in their life! That great 
God, Who should be all in all to them, sees 
but few acts of homage coming to Him from 
them ! And in proportion as the intervals are 
great, so are the hearts rapacious and cold ! 
Lowest of worship, which is too often only a 
formality, and in which those who render it do 
not even reach the indispensable nor the strict 
obligation of justice ! 

The third class presents to the Divine looks 
the persons who are truly religious : they are 
those who penetrated with the end of their 
creation, and drawing the just consequences 
from the fundamental truth, place at the head 
of their obligations those which refer to the 
Creation. In the first rank should doubtless 
be found those who are called religious, for they 
have entered religion , that is, they have destined 
themselves by their very state, to verify in 
themselves in an excellent manner the defini- 
tion of the virtue of religion ; and when they 
are such in fact, as their name and profession 
imply, it is on them, assuredly that the eyes of 
the Lord rest with the greatest complacency, 
according to what He Himself said of the holy 



place in which religion is especially attended 
to: " My eyes and my heart shall be there 
always/' (1) 

II. — The virtue of religion renders to God 
the worship and the homage that, are due to 
Him. But in what does this worship and hom- 
age consist? The angelic doctor gives a double 
etymology impressing on the mind two fruitful 
ideas, whence he draws the substantial idea of 
religion. The word religion, he says, comes 
from the Latin verb religare, to bind again] or 
again from the verb reeligere, to re-elect, or 
choose anew. Thus religion binds us again to 
Almighty God from whom we had become de- 
tached. It again makes us re-elect God, whom 
we had lost through negligence, that is, ac- 
cording to the strength of the word negligere, 
nee eligere, because our heart no longer wished 
for Him. In fact, God is He to whom man 
should principally re-bind himself as being his 
supreme and inseparable first beginning; and 
He is likewise, He towards whom man should 
bring back his wandering heart as towards his 
last end ; so that he may regain by faith operat- 
ing in good works, the God whom he had lost- 
through negligence. (2) 

This is essentially the twofold idea of the 
worship that we owe to God, and this doctrine 

(1) III Kings, ix, 3. 

(2) Religio from re-binding, because it binds us again to 
the omnipotent God; religion from a choosing anew, be- 
cause we choose Him again whom we had lost through 
neglect. 



24 

on religion reaches out to all mankind. Man 
naturally bound to God, His Creator by bis ori- 
gin, was still more so, supernaturally, by grace, 
with which he had been adorned; but Adam's 
sin had unfortunately detached him from God, 
and a Repairer had to come to bind him again 
to his first beginning. In consequence of the 
same sin, the human will, no longer caring for 
God, took elsewhere its guilty choice ; a Saviour 
was necessary to cure this will and render it 
capable of re-electing Him who is its last end. 
Still too often detached by new sins which 
cause him to lose God, he must make fresh 
efforts, with the help of the ever-merciful grace 
of Jesus Christ, to bind himself again to his 
first beginning and to bring back his will to 
his last end. This must be the continual work, 
the daily care of man on earth, and it belongs 
to religion to accomplish it. To have religion, 
to practice one's religion means nothing else. 
But this universal principle, common to all, 
has for the religious a very special application ; 
for it is the proper expression of all his duties, 
and it urges him to fulfil them by these two 
supreme motives, God, my first beginning, God 
my last end. God, my first beginning, to 
Whom I must ever more strongly and more en- 
tirely bind myself; God, my last end Whom my 
heart must ceaselessly re-elect with more effi- 
cacy. What efforts must not the religious 
make in order to attain this ! How many voids 
to fill up! How many things to repair every 
day ! How many adverse inclinations to be 



25 

combatted ! And this is the very reason of the 
multiplicity of means offered by the religious 
profession : — the vows, the rules, the spiritual 
exercises, direction by superiors — all having for 
their object to aid one to bind one's self more 
perfectly to one's first beginning and to re- 
elect always more energetically one's last end. 

III. — Let us now consider more clearly the 
composition of that debt to the Lord which 
religion must pay. 

First, man owes God the worship of latria 
which is due to Him only. Then obedience is, 
due to God in all that He exacts by a formal 
precept which excludes all sin, whether grievous 
or slight. But in the third place we more- 
over owe Him all we are capable of doing for 
His service and glory, even though He com- 
mand it not under pain of sin: because all our 
works are His due lis Creator and Lord, Begin- 
ning and End, and because we are in every way 
His servants. It is true, that the works not 
rigorously commanded by Him, are called su- 
pererogatory. But there can be in fact on our 
part, relatively to the exigencies of His Great- 
ness, no act of pure liberality; far from that^ 
we shall never have paid our entire debt no mat- 
ter what we may do ; and we shall ever have to 
say in presence of this Divine Master: " We 
are useless servants ; we have done only what 
was our duty to do." (1) Thence the name 
of just given to all His servants; for even 

(1) Say: We are unprofitable servants — we have done 
that which we ought to do. Luke, xvii, 10. 
3 



26 

whilst performing heroic works in His honor, 
they do only what is in accordance with jus- 
tice. 

Now, must we ask the religious if there be 
any one on earth more justly and more totally 
bound by obligation to G-od than he is ? But 
we must also add: Is there any one else in so 
favorable a position to be able to pay easily 
all the parts of his debt? 

§ n. 

Another teaching of St. Thomas, on the 
virtue of religion contains the practical man- 
ner of discharging this debt, and we shall 
there see three things: 1st, the religious life 
in all its details; 2nd, the essence of the reli- 
gious spirit ; 3rd, the true exercise of religion. 

(i) 

I. — The virtue of religion, says the holy 
doctor, produces two kinds of acts: those of 
its own, which it brings forth formally, and 
those that it commands to the other virtues in 
order that it may take them to itself by refer- 
ring them to its last end, and they give them 
more value. 

Among the acts peculiar to religion, some 
are interior, others exterior. 

These interior acts embrace the principal 
cultus that we owe to God. The first of 
these acts and the one that gives activity to 
all the others is devotion; for devotion is 
nothing but promptitude of the will to go at 

(1) 2a, 2ge, q. 81, a. 2. 



27 

everything that belongs to God's honor and 
service. The second of these acts is prayer, by 
which man honors God and submits himself 
to Him, as in praying he professes that he has 
need of God as the author of all good. 

The exterior acts of religion are adoration, 
sacrifice, offerings, praise, etc. An explana- 
tion of these matters would no doubt be use- 
ful ; but it would overload the present ques- 
tion and lead us too far: but on account of 
its importance, we, shall, further on, return 
to devotion. (1) 

Numberless are the acts which religion can 
command to the other virtues: for all enter 
into its domain and acquire its especial merit 
from the very fact that it refers them to the 
worship and the honor of God. Such are the 
works of mercy, of temperance and of mortifi- 
cation, according to what St. James says: 
cc Eeligion clean and undefiled, before God and 
the Father is this : to visit the fatherless and 
widows in their tribulation : and to keep one's 
self unspotted from this world/ ' (2) 

The same is true of the acts that proceed 
from some legitimate affection inspired by 
nature, as the love of relatives and friends, 
the study of science, the taste for such or such 
an honest occupation, etc. Religion does not 
suppress these affections; it purifies them, 
frees them from selfish and worldly love, 
strengthens and perfects them by referring 
them to God; and thus it makes of them holy 

(1) Section III. (2) St. James' Epistle, i, 27. 



28 

affections, having God Himself as their begin- 
ning and end. m 

Even the most indifferent and most common 
actions can thus be made its own by religion, 
as the Apostle Paul teaches and urges us: 
" Therefore whether you eat or drink, or what- 
soever else you do; do all for the glory of 
God." (1) 

We have here then, all the details of the 
religious life. We see that not only can a 
religious, like other Christians, transform all 
that he does into acts of religion by the inten- 
tion animating him; but moreover, that his 
vows, above all that of obedience, are there to 
confer upon his works a much more special 
merit of religion and to refer all in an excellent 
manner to the worship of the Divine Master. 

II. — Now the very essence of the religious 
spirit, which should penetrate all our actions, 
is this: By the virtue of religion, again says 
St. Thomas, man reveres and honors God as 
first principle as w T ell for the creation as for the 
government of all things, especially of man 
himself. This is why the Lord said by His 
prophet: "If then I be a father, where is my 
honor ?" (2) For it belongs to a father to com- 
municate existence to his children and to 
govern them. (3) 

Let us comprehend thoroughly the bearing 
of this doctrine. The religious spirit essen- 
tially consists in ever seeing in God the first 

(1) I Cor. x, 31. (2) Malachias, i, 6. 

(3) 2a, 2ae, quaest. 81, art. 3. 



29 

Principle in order always to honor Him faith- 
fully in this quality. But where does God 
manifest Himself as first Principle ? In the 
creation and the government of the world and 
all things. The religious spirit, then, renders 
man everywhere attentive to recognize this 
divine action and diligent to render Him hom- 
age. However there is one special place 
wherein his attention and diligence should be 
greater still and more continual: his own per- 
son; and it is in himself above all that he 
loves to consider God as first Principle in 
order to honor Him who in the natural and 
the supernatural order, with the authority and 
goodness of a Father, produces, preserves, and 
governs, His reasonable creature. 

Doubtless, such was the religious spirit from 
the origin of the world; men truly religious, 
even among that people among whom the law 
of fear prevailed on account of the hardness 
of their hearts, knew how to recognize that 
quality of Father in the God of majesty. But 
Jesus Christ came to mark religion with this 
character more openly, whom associating those 
who believe in Him to His own filiation, 
"He gave them the power to be made the sons 
of God." (1) 

In whom should that filial cultus, in which 
the Holy Ghost Himself causes us to exclaim, 
" Father, Father/' (2) when we treat with the 

(1) John, i, 12. 

(2) You have received the Spirit of adoption of sons, 
whereby we cry Abba (Father). Romans, viii, 15. 

3* 



30 

Creator, reign more than in the mind and 
heart of the religious towards the celestial 
Father? In reading the lives of the Saints, 
for example that of St. Teresa, we are struck 
with the manner in which they knew how to 
unite the most profound respect for God, with 
the most tender love. Ah! it is only in the 
relations of men among themselves that famili- 
arity breeds contempt, or that respect con- 
strains the effusion of love. But it is quite 
otherwise with God, because the Holy Ghost is 
present to producing at the same time the pro- 
found sentiment of majesty and bounty. 

III. — Here, finally, is according to St. 
Thomas, the true exercise of religion, such as 
is necessary without doubt for all Christians, 
but such as the religious most of all should 
have in all the relations of his life. The vir- 
tue of religion, says that saint, honors and 
serves God by the same acts: for the worship 
refers to the Divine excellence to Whom rever- 
ence is due, and the service refers to the depen- 
dence of man who by his natural condition is 
obliged to render homage to God. These two 
things, worship and service, are necessarily 
found in all the acts belonging to religion, 
because all should be the testimonies by which 
man declares at the same time the Divine Ex- 
cellence and his own dependence, whether he 
offers something to God, such as adoration, 
praise, sacrifice, etc., or in his turn asks or re- 
ceives some benefit from the Divine Bounty. (1) 

(1) 2a, 2se, quaest. 81, art. 3. 



31 

Who does not see how fundamental this is in 
the Christian and religious life. These two 
things, honoring and serving God, are never to 
be separated in the true and solid practice of 
the virtue of religion: for, if He asks and wel- 
comes the protestations that we make of His 
Excellence, He no less requires the submission 
of our will and the service of our works. 

§ HI. 

The virtue of religion is not a theological 
virtue, because God is not its immediate object 
as He is of faith, hope and charity. The ob- 
ject of religion is not our last end, but all the 
acts which serve as means to attain it. 

It is therefore only a moral virtue; but it is 
the first of all in dignity, for the reas-on that 
it approaches nearest to God and that it is 
closest to our last end, operating works directly 
tending to the Divine glory. 

Nevertheless St. Augustine teaches us that 
man honors God by faith, hope and charity; 
(1) because these virtues by themselves com- 
manding religion to act, cause these acts 
to become their own also. This is a princi- 
ple most carefully to be remembered, as it is 
most fruitful in practical consequences. We 
there see that the more are faith, hope and 
charity living in a soul, the more do they cause 
religion to produce therein works pertaining to 
the worship and the service of God. On the 

(1) Fide, spe et charitate colitur Deus. God is worshipped 
by faith, hope and charity. 



32 

contrary, in proportion as they decrease, so 
does the virtue of religion become inactive, 
even so far as to fall into complete desuetude. 

§IV. 

The preceding exposition of the virtue of 
religion brings vividly into view the excellence 
of the religious state. Therefore St. Thomas, 
explaining to religious the meaning of the 
name they bear, herein finds the reason why 
this appellation is so specially attributed to 
them. 

The name religious, he says, is by antono- 
masia given to those who have devoted them- 
selves entirely to the service of God, because 
they are men who, among other men, offer that 
perfect .sacrifice of holocaust, in which is re- 
served no portion of the victim. (1) Therefore 
religious, by their very state, are and should 
be the personification of the virtue of religion, 
the virtue of religion ever in action. This is 
their essential obligation, but it also is their 
special merit and the beautiful portion given 
them by God : so that every one of them should 
continually apply to himself the words addressed 
by St. Leo, to the Christian : "Understand thy 
dignity, religious, and after having been so 
elevated by the Divine Master in His service, 
do not lower thyself by thy works nor return 
to the pitiful meanness and futility of worldly 

(1) Antonouiastice religiosi dicuntur illi qui se totaliter 
mancipant divino servitio, quasi holocaustum Deo offeren- 
tes. 2a, 2se, q. 186, a. 1. 



33 

life." (1) The name religious is> every time it 
is pronounced, a call to fervor to him who bears 
it a call like unto that made to himself by St. 
Bernard: "Bernard, for what purpose earnest 
thou hither?" This name is like a spiritual 
mirror perpetually before the eyes of the reli- 
gious: let him interrogate and consult it and 
he will see it ever repeating the great lesson 
given to men by the Child-God in His first pub- 
lic act of religion: "I must be about my 
Father's business." (2) 

Section III. — On Devotion. 

Devotion is the first and principal act of the 
virtue of religion, as we have already said: for 
it is by it that the will is borne to all the 
others, either to those produced by this vir- 
tue itself, whether within or without, or to 
those it causes the others to produce in order 
that God may be honored. 

There are two kinds of devotion to be dis- 
tinguished: substantial and accidental devo- 
tion. 

§ I. — Substantial devotion. (3) 

I. — Devotion, considered in its substance, is 
nothing else but a certain promptitude of the 
will giving itself to all that belongs to the 
service of God. (4) 

(1) Agnosce, O Christiane, dignitatem tuam, et divinae 
consors factus naturae, noli in veterem vilitatem degeneri 
conversatione redire. 

(2) Luke, ii, 49. (3) 2a, 2se, q. 82, a. 1, 2. 
(4) Devotio nihil aliud est quara voluntas quaedam 

prompte se tradendi ad ea quae sunt Dei faraulatus. 



34 

The word devotion comes from the Latin 
devovere, and devoti was the term applied by 
the Romans to those who devoted themselves 
to their gods and to death for their country ; 
as, according to Titus Livy, was done by the 
two Decius. To be devout, therefore, is to 
give up with a prompt will one's life with its 
acts to the worship and the service of God ; 
and devotion is not, as many imagine it to be, 
an affair of sensibility, but one of devotedness. 
It does not consist precisely in pious practices, 
but in the ardor of a will which goes at the 
things whicli are asked of it by God. 

St. Francis de Sales has spoken of devotion 
in the same manner as the Angelic Doctor: 
"It is nothing else/' he tells us, "but a spiri- 
tual agility and vivacity which makes us labor 
for God carefully, frequently and promptly." 

II. — The special and direct enemy of devotion 
is spiritual sloth or tepidity. (1) 

The vice of sloth is, as a rule, a sadness 
which weighs on the soul when in presence of 
good to be done, and so depresses the courage 
of a person that he no longer has will to act. 
Sloth has two vicious sides: it is, first, vicious 
in itself because it treats as evil what is good: 
for sadness is that sentiment of the soul that 
strives against evil to repulse it. Secondly, 
Sloth is perverse in its effects, because it pre- 
vents the doing of good. Moreover, as no one 

(1) 2a, 2ae, q. 35, a. 1. Acedia est quaedam tristitia ag- 
gravans, quae scilicet ita deprimit animum hominis nt 
nihil agere libeat. 



35 

can remain under the pressure of sadness nor 
live without some contentment, sloth causes 
the soul to seek sensual satisfactions. Finally 
after having turned away from the good which 
saddened it, the will becomes so perverted, as 
even to oppose that good either in things by 
an aversion of malice or in persons by hatred 
of those whose advice or whose example re- 
calls it to its duty. 

Apply all this to spiritual sloth, which is 
the wilful disgust of the soul for works pertai ning 
to the service of God and you have well charac- 
terized the terrible evil of tepidity and its 
effects. But it is to be remarked, that here 
nothing is said of involuntary disgusts when 
in spite of them the will remains faithful to 
the practice of its duties. 

III. — The causes of devotion show how it can 
be enkindled in the heart. Charity is its prox- 
imate cause and its remote cause is contempla- 
tion. (1) 

Charity is the proximate cause of devotion, 
because it belongs to love to. make a friend 
prompt to render service to his friend. And it 
is God who gives to us and augments in us 
charity: from Him therefore, must we ask the 
cause, if we wish to possess the effect. 

Nevertheless, on the other hand, charity is 
itself fed by devotion, as every friendship is 
preserved and increased by the exercise of the 
works which it produces. And this is the 
share we must contribute to nourish holy love 

(1) 2a, 2ae, q. 82, a. 3,4, 6. 



36 

within ourselves. Let us also listen to St. 
Francis de Sales: "By means of this spiritual 
agility and vivacity of our will, charity acts 
within us. or we through it, promptly and lov- 
ingly. Charity is a spiritual fire, and devotion 
adds the flame thereunto which renders charity 
prompt, active and diligent. " 

Contemplation is the remote cause of devo- 
tion, that is,, meditation and spiritual reading 
especially, because it is thus that the soul con- 
ceives the will to give itself with promptitude 
to the service of God. In fact, every act of 
our will proceeds from some consideration of 
our understanding; and devotion rises in us 
from a double consideration: one wherein we 
contemplate the Divine Goodness, the other 
which shows us our own misery. The contem- 
plation of the Divine Goodness excites in us 
the love of it, which is, as we have said, the 
proximate cause of devotion, according to 
these words of the Psalmist: "It is good for 
me to stick close to my God, to put my hope 
in the Lord." (1) The consideration of the 
Divine attributes in themselves, is of itself the 
best means of exciting devotion. But on our 
side, on account of human weakness, the most 
efficacious consideration to this end is that of 
Our Lord Jesus Christ, God made man like us 
and for us, of Jesus Christ Who has appeared to 
us as being the grace, the benignity and the 
humanity of Our Saviour. (2) This is the 

(1) Psalm lxxii, 28. 

(2) Apparuit Dei gratia Salvatoris nostri. — Tit. 2. Benig- 
nitas et humanitas apparuit Salvatoris nostri Dei. — Tit. 2. 



37 

book written within and without (1) which 
it behooves us to read and meditate, after St. 
Paul's example, who after having been taken 
up to the third heaven, professed to know noth- 
ing but Jesus and Jesus Crucified. (2) 

The other source of devotion is the consid- 
eration of our misery. For the more we shall 
be penetrated with it the more will it make 
us feel our need of leaning on God, and conse- 
quently the more shall we strive to merit His 
help by the fidelity of our services, according 
to these words of David: "I have lifted up my 
eyes to the holy mountains whence help shall 
come to me, the help of Him who made Heaven 
and earth." (3) Moreover, this view of our 
misery will exclude presumption, which pre- 
vents man, because he leans on his own strength 
from subjecting himself to God. 

All that has been said shows how necessary 
is meditation and why it is called an exercise 
of devotion. Made with diligence it serves to 
inflame devotion, but if made without care 
and for form-sake it lets it become extin- 
guished. 

IV. — The effects of devotion. Principally and 
directly devotion produces joy; but it also, 
indirectly, produces a certain sadness accord- 
ing to God. 

(2) And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the 
throne a book written within and without. Apoc. v, 1. 

(3) For I judged not myself to know anything among 
you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I Cor. ii, 2. 

(1) Psalm cxx, 1, 2. 



38 

In fact, the consideration of the Divine 
Goodness, which is, as we have seen is the 
cause of devotion, of itself produces joyfulness 
in the soul: "I remembered God and I was 
delighted/' (1) says the holy King David. 
Worldlings imagine that devotion is sad and 
gloomy, that is because they do not know how 
far above earthly joys and pleasures, is the con- 
tent of a heart which is entirely God's. Or 
they consider only those who drag themselves 
along painfully in God's service instead of 
putting forth in it that promptitude of a will 
which knows how to give cheerfully to the 
Lord. But let them cast their eyes on those 
who possess true devotion, and in every in- 
stance shall they find hearts contented with 
God, because those hearts in all things apply 
themselves to please Him. This is the exam- 
ple offered by all the Saints: St. Komuald who 
served the Divine Master with so much ardor 
for more than a hundred years, always had so 
radiant a countenance as to communicate his 
joy to those who looked upon him, (2) and the 
amiability of St. Francis Xavier was such 
that a Pagan King of Japan because of it con- 
ceived the desire to go to Heaven in order to 
be in his company. (3) Like the Saints, every 
true servant of God can and should give this 
edification to the world. 

(1) Psalm lxxvi, 4. 

(2) Vultu adeo lseto semper erat, ut intuentes exhilara- 
ret. (Lit.) 

(3) History of his life. 



39 

Yet this very consideration of the Divine 
Goodness indirectly causes a certain sadness 
in the devout soul, the sadness of the exile 
repeating with the Psalmist: " My soul hath 
thirsted after the strong living God ; when 
shall I come and appear before the face of 
God ? My tears have been my bread day and 
night." (1) But this very sadness is one of. 
the beatitudes here below: "Blessed are they 
that mourn; for they shall be comforted." (2) 

Doubtless the devout soul draws a subject of 
sadness from the consideration of its own 
misery, but it draws also therefrom a subject 
of joy, from the thought that the misery felt 
and humbly acknowledged by us, infallibly 
draws down mercy. And this element of joy 
is necessary to the comforting of those who 
mourn, because without it the sight of our 
misery would produce only dejection with a 
melancholy that would not be according to 
God. 

Whence it follows that wilful anxieties in 
God's service, are not good indications of real 
devotion, since it does not join to the senti- 
ment of its evils the assurance of being suc- 
cored. 

V. — When substantial devotion is a habit 
in the soul it is properly called fervor of spirit, 
it proceeds from charity and in its turn serves 
to nourish it, as said above; but this true 
fervor is essential, just as charity is in the 
will, and not in sensible impressions. 

(1) Psalm xli, 3, 4. (2) Matt, v, 5. 



40 

§ 2. — Accidental Devotion, 

I. — A certain sweetness experienced by the 
soul, supporting the promptitude of its will 
in what it does for God, is what is termed 
accidental devotion. It is only an accident 
overadded to devotion and not its very sub- 
stance: so that devotion can well exist with- 
out it. 

II. — There may be two kinds of suavity felt 
in devotion: either it charms only the will, or 
this sweetness affects the sensibility of the soul, 
and, as it is termed, the inferior appetite. 

The first species of suavity is a joy purely 
spiritual. Generally speaking, even in the 
suffering of sacrifice, man always finds a con- 
tent of mind, which is as the natural reward 
of the will when it is prompt in its act of 
virtue. But it often happens that this content 
remains latent as it were, in the depth of the 
soul, for example, as when the will has to 
make an effort against sensible pain or the 
difficulty of the work. In order that the 
suavity may become intense and perceptible, 
the unction of God's grace must be added, and 
this is the first kind of accidental devotion, 
which makes the will experience a profound 
joy, in which the inferior sensibility takes no 
part, it is like unto the delights experienced by 
the angelic spirits. 

This wholly spiritual sweetness is what St. 
Francis de Sales seems to have wished to 
describe in the following graceful passage: 
" Devotion is the sweetness of sweetnesses and 



41 

the queen of virtues: for it is the perfection 
of charity. If charity is a milk, devotion is 
the cream; if it is a plant, devotion is the 
fruit; if it is a precious stone, devotion is its 
brilliancy ; if it is a balm, devotion is its fra- 
grance, the fragrance of suavity comforting men 
and rejoicing the angels/' It had also been 
said by St. Bernard in fewer words, but w T ith 
no less grace, that devotion is a flower of the 
future world: cevifuturi flos est devotio. 

But another trait may be presented by the 
suavity of accidental devotion: namely, when 
certain pleasant emotions are produced in the 
sensible or inferior part of the soul, and then 
it may properly be called sensible devotion. 

If to these sweet emotions of sentiment 
be joined true devotedness of the will, then 
it is the devotion real; but if devotedness in 
works does not exist with the sensible impres- 
sion, the devotion is only apparent and illusory. 
Sensible devotion is therefore to be judged by 
its fruits and not by sentiment. 

It may not only be a vain appearance, but 
even a deceit of the evil spirit or of self-love, 
and consequently an enemy of true devotion; 
whence we see how important is the examina- 
tion of its origin. 

The sensible sweetness of devotion may have 
the four following causes: 

1st. The intensity of the act of charity; for 
says St. Thomas (1) so great a satisfaction may 

(1) Propter intensionem appetitus superioris, ex quo fit 

redundantia in inferiorem partem, la, 2ae, q. 30, art. 5. 
4* 



42 

be produced by the intensity of an act of the 
will, as to cause its superabundance to overflow 
and react on the inferior part of the soul. 
This may, above all, take place in the intense 
act of charity, when God adds to it the unction 
of a special grace: then are sensible emotions 
produced, tears and other effects more or less 
vehement, as are read in the lives of the Saints ; 
so that one may exclaim with the Psalmist: 
u My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the 
living God." (1) 

2nd. The action of the good angel. In fact, 
it often happens, that when the soul does or 
wishes to do something for God's service, the 
good angel approaches to lend it his aid, and 
by an action belonging to the natural power of 
angels, (2) he excites in the inferior part of 
the soul emotions whence proceed the sensible 
sweetnesses of devotion. His purpose is to 
second the will in good by furnishing it this 
agreeable help, this rampart against the repug- 
nances of the flesh. 

3rd. But the wicked angel on his side possesses 
naturally the power to excite in us emotions 
and sensible sweetnesses, which may be mista- 
ken for devotion, and he does excite them with- 
out any good being done by us or without its 
being done for God. His purpose is always to 
do us harm by this deceitful enticement and 
thus artfully to prepare our ruin. 

(2) Psalm Ixxxiii, 3. 

(3) See St. Thomas, Part 1st, quest. III. 



43 

4th. Finally, in certain impressionable na- 
tures self-love by itself can likewise success- 
fully produce a seeming devotion with its sen- 
sible effects; this fruit of self-love cannot be 
good, even if it causes good actions, since the 
intention spoils them and these lying sweet- 
nesses serve only to lead the soul farther and 
farther astray out of the path of the true ser- 
vice of God. 

To sum up, then, there is a purely spiritual 
sweetness, which, as St. Paul, tells us, is en- 
tirely above the senses; though more rarely 
felt by souls of ordinary devotion, it is fre- 
quent among the Saints, who even here below, 
according to St. Denis (1) share on account of 
their superabundant charity, the delights of 
the angels. As to the delights of sensible de- 
votion, they may be indications of an ardent 
charity; but these indications are far from 
being infallible : for on one side, a manly tem- 
perament may naturally be less open to sensible 
impressions, even in the most intense acts of 
the will, although it must be acknowledged that 
God has often given to great souls hearts full 
of tenderness. On the other hand, sensible 
consolations may be the indications of a lesser 
charity, because it is to persons of weak or un- 
stable will that the good spirit is wont to lend 
support in this manner, and he gives it even to 
souls without charity in order to draw them to 

(1) Sancti homines multoties fiunt in communicatione 
delectationum angelicarum. Many holy persons partici- 
pate in the delights of the angels. 



44 

God. Finally, they may be deceiving indica- 
tions of charity as when they are the work of 
the devil or of self-love. 

The practical conclusion of all this is, that 
we should cling above all to substantial devo- 
tion. 

Is it not, however, lawful to desire and to 
seek sensible devotion? 

In the first place, I answer by quoting a pro- 
position condemned by the Church in Molinos, 
the false mystic of the XVII century: "He 
who desires and seizes sensible devotion, does 
wrong in wishing and striving for it." (1) 
The contrary proposition is therefore true: 
He does not do wrong. And, in fact, sensible 
devotion is a gift from God ; for that reason it 
should be esteemed, and should He deign to 
grant it, it ought to be received with gratitude. 
It may be a necessary stay to our weakness to 
support us in well-doing; it is therefore to be 
asked for with humble sentiments of the need 
we may have of it. It is very useful to make 
us advance in all virtues; we should then de- 
sire it, strive to merit it by mortification and 
purity of life, and whenever given to us by 
God, faithfully use it as an instrument of spir- 
itual progress. 

I answer, in the second place, that as it is 
possible for sensible devotion to be false, care 
should be taken to discover as I have said whence 

(1) Qui desiderat et amplectitur devotionem sensibilem, 
male facit earn desiderando et ad earn conando. Con- 
demned Proposition. 



45 

it proceeds. Moreover, even when the good spirit 
is the source of it, it is one of the favors that can be 
used either for good or for evil. He abuses it 
who instead of availing himself of it to gather 
strength and to prepare with it for the time ol 
trial, thinks only of enjoying it for itself. 
This is what St. John of the Cross calls spiri- 
tual sensuality, by which we cling improperly 
to the gift rather than to the giver. It is 
therefore a grace for those sensual souls when 
God withdraws consolation from them, just as 
the physician prescribes a diet to cure a malady 
caused by gluttony. Finally let us be sure 
that we are not rendered agreeable to God by 
sensible relish. Far from that, it often hap- 
pens that we are all the less pleasing to Him 
when we are most pleased with ourselves and 
when we congratulate ourselves, because^ as we 
think, things are going on so well. But let us 
not deceive ourselves, humility and the con- 
viction of our misery, the promptitude of our 
will in doing His in all things, the care to 
practice solid virtue, whether He gives us much 
or little spiritual consolations, these are the 
things that please Our Divine Master. 

Section IV. — Religion compared with Sanc- 
tity. (!) 

We willingly add here this consideration, 
which is of great interest to every Christian 
and especially to persons in religion. 

(1) 2a, 2se, q. 81, a. 3. 



46 

I. — What is sanctity? 

An ardent and generous heart easily causes 
him who embraces the religious state to say: 
"I wish to become a saint herein/' On the 
contrary, it may often happen that a pusillani- 
mous religious will be heard to say to himself 
and to repeat to others: u As for me I have 
no pretension of becoming a saint, it would be 
too high an aim for my weakness/' Well! the 
Angelic Doctor will answer to the first that to 
be a saint he has only to be a true religious; 
but the second will also learn from him that 
not to wish to become a saint is to give up the 
purpose of being a true religious; that is, not 
to desire to be what is meant by his very name, 
and in such a case there will remain to him 
only the appearance, the bark, the mask of 
religion. 

In fact, St. Thomas tells us that the differ- 
ence between religion and sanctity is only a 
difference of reason, that is,, a difference in the 
aspects under which our mind considers them; 
but that at bottom, their essence is the same : 
for the part of religion is to render to Grod the 
worship that is due to Him, by referring its own 
acts and those it causes the other virtues to 
produce to the divine honor, and sanctity con- 
sists precisely in this that the soul applies itself and 
all its acts to God. (1) 

Thence we manifestly see, that both defini- 
tively do an identical work: religion in order 

(1) Sanctitas dicitur, per quam mens hominis seipsam et 
suos actus applicat Deo. 



47 

to pay the debt resting on us towards the 
Supreme Majesty; Sanctity to make our soul 
reach its perfection by applying it to the Infi- 
nitely perfect Being. And this is also the^work 
that is done by charity, under this other aspect 
that it unites us to God by our heart and 
stamps the acts of all our other virtues with 
the seal of divine love. 

It should, moreover, be remarked, that as 
there are in the practice of religion and of 
charity two diiFerent degrees, one indispensa- 
ble to salvation, the other rising higher, thus 
we should distinguish two kinds of sanctity: 
one without which Heaven: is not to be hoped 
for, the other which does not stop at this infer- 
rior degree. Doubtless it may be said to ordi- 
nary Christians themselves, that to be satisfied 
through a feeling of cowardice and as if by a 
set plan, to aim only at the inferior degree, is 
to putting one's salvation in great peril, be- 
cause if it be missed, there is some below it, 
and to miss it in reality is but too easy to our 
weakness, if we aim not at the very least a little 
higher. But whatever may be the case of Chris- 
tians in the world, we shall soon see, when 
speaking of the obligation of religious to tend- 
ing to perfection, that it is not permitted him 
to be satisfied with an ordinary charity nor 
with an ordinary sanctity, just as his name 
warns him that ordinary religion cannot be 
sufficient for him. 

II. — St. Thomas shall now set forth the two 
elements of sanctity with very clear and pre- 



48 

cise notions. The name sanctity, he says, con- 
tains two things, the first is cleanness, or ex- 
emption from stain, which allows the soul to 
apply itself to God; the second is firmness or 
a certain strength in the tie which binds it to 
God. (1) 

1st. In order that the soul may be in a con- 
dition to apply itself to God with its acts, it 
must first be pure, according to these words of 
the Apostle: "What fellowship hath light 
with darkness?" (2) The soul is soiled by 
applying itself to objects below it ; for every 
substance is corrupted by its mixture with an 
inferior one: gold, for example, ceases to be 
pure when mixed with lead. The soul then 
must be disengaged from the low things which 
soil it in order to be able to apply itself to the 
supreme object, God. 

The Greek tongue has given us the word that 
expresses this first element of sanctity: Agios, 
-sine terra , not soiled by contact with the earth. 
Thus pure water looks like beautiful crystal; 
a drop penetrated by light is like a diamond ; 
mixed with earth, it is only mud. 

This part of sanctity, as is seen, embraces 
all that relates to detachment and to abnega- 
tion, and we shall not enter here into details. 
Let us say only that nothing is more useful to 
excite us to this purity of soul, than to con- 
sider it frequently in the saints. How care- 

(1) Nomen sanctitatis videturduo importere: numditiatn 
et firmitatem. 

(2) II Cor.^vi, 14. 



49 

fully did not St. John the Baptist, St. Aloysius 
Gonzaga, and so many pure virgins avoid all 
contact with terrestrial things! Prayer and 
good will can make us approach the saints by 
imitation ; and the souls that sincerely give 
themselves up to the spirit of grace will feel 
that past ages have not exhausted the source 
of sanctity and that the arm of God has not 
been shortened. 

2ndly. The Latin language has given us the 
word that expresses the second element of 
sanctity: Sanctus, that is, sancitus or firmatus, 
strengthened, rendered inviolable ; we call saint 
or holy what is so strongly applied to God, to 
His worship, to His service that separation is 
not possible, nor is it permissible to apply it 
to any other use. 

A saint, then, is he whose soul, with all its 
acts, is so applied to God that there is no sepa- 
ration possible, because the strong bond of the 
law of charity is there to keep that soul in 
place. 

Firmness also is necessary to sanctity for the 
reason that the soul applies itself to God as 
the first principle and last end ; and this appli- 
cation no longer permits mutability, as says 
St. Paul: "Who then shall separate us from 
the love of Christ ? shall tribulation, or dis- 
tress, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or 

persecution, or the sword? For I am 

sure that neither death, nor life, etc/' (1) 

(1) I Rom. viii, 35, 38, 39. 

5 



50 

It is not only in holy men that this double 
element of sanctity is found ; but also in holy 
things applied to the divine worship, as tem- 
ples, sacred vessels, etc. But how far greater 
than that of every material object, is the sanc- 
tity of man, when he keeps his mind, his 
heart, and his body free from all stain, and 
his whole soul with all its acts firmly applied 
to God. 

III. — Baptism gives to the Christian the be- 
ginning of sanctity: for it removes the soul's 
stains by the remission of sins, and applies it 
firmly to God, by the infusion of sanctifying 
grace: dgios, Sanctus. Afterwards, the other 
sacraments are at hand to preserve sanctity, to 
increase it and even to restore it, if unfortu- 
nately mortal sin should come to soil the soul 
and destroy its union with God. Finally, 
with the help of actual grace and by the exer- 
cise of virtue, the faithful soul rises to an ever 
increasing sanctity, wherein its parity is ever 
more exempt from stains, and its adhesion to 
God is closer and more complete. 

But to the ordinary means of becoming holy, 
the religious profession adds very special re- 
sources of great efficacy. Thus to obtain the 
first element of sanctity, the religious has his 
three vows, which are so apt to separate him 
from low and earthy things, and to keep him 
free from all alloy. The second element also 
comes to him first and principally from these 
same vows, which attach him closely to God, 
and then from his holy rules, which in pre- 



51 

serving him, in every detail of his actions, 
from the danger of stain or separation, con- 
tinually augment and perfect his union with 
♦ God. 

Sanctity, such as we know it in this world, 
is never anything but a commencement of 
sanctity, and this as regards the two parts of 
which it is composed: for on one side the soul 
dwells in a house of clay, and the Wise Man 
says: "The corruptible body is a load upon 
the soul and the earthly habitation presseth 
down the mind;" (1) and as it necessarily 
touches the earth, the use of creatures, which 
it cannot avoid, always brings some stain, 
according to the saying of the Wise Man : "A 
just man shall fall seven times." (2) 

On the other side, the adhesion of the soul 
to God is never out of danger of rupture ; for 
though it be true that on God's side the bond 
is such as to defy all efforts of enemies, on 
man's side, alas! how fragile is the tie, since 
in order to break it only an act of the will is 
required. Thence the necessity for the saint 
in this world of completely mistrusting him- 
self and of leaning only upon divine strength 
in all things. Therefore holiness here below 
ever claims the soul's attention and diligence; 
there must be a continual work of reparation, 
renovation and increase, and the saint upon 
earth can never say: "I have done enough." 
Such is God's warning to him, through His 
prophet: "I have set thee to root up and to 

(1) Wisdom, ix, 15. (2) Prov. xxiv. 



52 

pull down, and to build and to plant/' (1) 
and to none are these divine words more appli- 
cable in truth, continuance and extent, than 
to the religious in his holy state. 

Only in Heaven shall sanctity be perfect and 
complete in its two parts: there there will be 
entire exemption from stain and an immovable 
and eternal adhesion of the soul to the infi- 
nitely holy God. 

ARTICLE III. 

OF THE BOND, OBLIGATION AND THE CESSATION OF 

THE VOW. 

Several important points relating to these 
questions have already been succinctly ex- 
plained in the "Catechism on the Vows/' (2) 
this is what we have still to add : 

I. — A religious may not bind himself by per- 
petual vows, when the rule embraced by him pre- 
scribes only temporary ones; at least the com- 
munity shall be in nowise engaged towards 
him by such vows. It is likewise not allowed 
for him to bind himself for a time fixed by himself 
when the rule provides that he shall make per- 
petual vows. Finally, he can vow no other 
poverty, chastity and obedience than those 
marked in the Constitutions of the Order in 
which he is received. However, if in making 
the vow of chastity he had the intention of vow- 
ing absolute , perpetual chastity, or if he had 
done so before, he would then remain bound, 

(1) Jeremias, i, 10. (2) Part 1st, C. 1. 



53 

even in case his superiors should free him from 
the vow to which they had meant to admit him 
according to their institute: so that for him 
to be dispensed from his vow he would have 
to have recourse to the Sovereign Pontiff. 

II. — A thing trivial in every respect may not 
form the object of a vow made under pain of 
mortal sin: a slight violation of the rules or a 
little practice of devotion^ for example. God 
would not accept an exaggerated obligation 
which reason disavows, and the thing itself 
would not be susceptible of such an engagement. 

A religious may certainly bind himself by 
vow to observe one or several of his rules, and 
many fervent souls have set us this example; 
but they have shown us also that a just discre- 
tion should be kept, in this that a careful ex- 
amination should be made to ascertain whether 
or not this desire comes from God, that the 
matter and the meaning of the vow should be 
clearly determined, and that nothing should be 
done without the wise direction of spiritual 
guides. (1) A temporary vow of this kind, to 
be renewed over and over again, would ordina- 
rily be more discreet, and could be made more 
easily than a perpetual vow. 

A vow to avoid every venial sin may not be 
made, because the thing is morally impossible, 
and consequently such a vow would be null. But 
it is allowed to make a vow to avoid such or 

(1) We may see on this subject the vow made by a holy 
religious, Father de la Colombiere, of observing all the 
rules of his institute. (Journal of his great retreat. ) 
5* 



54 

such venial sins,, and even every venial sin 
that is fully deliberate. 

III. — A vow may cease to exist in four ways : 
through impossibility, annulment, dispensation 
and commutation. 

1st. Impossibility. Are there any cases in 
which the vows of religion cease by this cause ? 
No such impossibility, which of itself can de- 
stroy the bond of these vows, is ever seen. 
But it is different as to their execution and ex- 
ercise. Thus the case of superior force, as 
that of the expulsion or the dispersing of a 
community, leaves unabrogated the bond which 
obliges the individuals, although for the time 
being the exercise of all its acts is no longer 
possible for them. Thus, also, in matters of 
poverty and obedience, impossibility or a great 
difficulty of recurring to the superior places 
the religious in the case of presumed permis- 
sion, and he may, then, in virtue of this per- 
mission, do all that appears to him to be 
urgent, necessary and even fitting. 

The vow of entering into religion ceases by 
impossibility, as soon as one has been judged 
inadmissible in the institute one had in view, 
and there is no obligation imposed by it of 
offering one's self elsewhere. 

2nd. Annulment. The right of annulling a 
vow is different from that of dispensing from 
it; for the former belongs to the right of dom- 
ination, and the latter to that of jurisdiction. 
Thus, a father, a husband, a master, may annul 
certain vows made by a child, a wife, or a servant, 



55 

to the prejudice of their rights. The power of 
jurisdiction belongs only to the Church and to 
those of her ministers upon whom the Church 
confers it. A woman, were she superior gen- 
eral or abbess, is incapable of jurisdiction and 
consequently can never give a dispensation 
from vows, but, as we shall explain, she can, 
in virtue of her right of domination, annul 
certain special vows. 

Special or private vows, whatever they may 
be, made before entering religion, are annulled 
by the profession of the solemn vows, and only 
suspended by the profession of the simple vows; 
in the second case, they would again become 
obligatory, for whosoever should leave the 
Order or the congregation. (1) 

When a religious has made profession of the 
solemn vows, his superior has the right to 
annul any special or personal vow he could 
afterwards make. The perpetual vows of reli- 
gion, although simple, seem manifestly to confer 
the same right on the superior, for the reason 
is the same, namely, that the will of the in- 
ferior having become totally dependent on his, 
the former cannot lessen by a special vow the 
power that the superior has acquired over all 
his acts. And this right which belongs to 
the power of domination, not of jurisdiction, 
may be exercised by any superior, so that every 
private vow is necessarily accompanied by this 
reservation. u Unless my superior, or supe- 
rioress, objects/' And since these vows are 

(1) See again the "Catechism on the Vows," Part I, ch. I. 



56 

annulled, they will not revive even in case of 
dismissal or departure. 

Finally, what must be said of a special vow 
made by a religious who has pronounced only 
temporary vows of religion? The answer 
seems to be, that if the obedience vowed tem- 
porarily is a universal obedience, every special 
vow may still be annulled by the superior, since 
the reason alleged above is here equally in 
force. But if this vow bore on a matter which 
should still subsist after the expiration of the 
temporary engagement, it would then only be 
suspended, and would become obligatory for 
him who should leave the congregation. 

As to the vows of religion, there are insti- 
tutes in which superiors can annul them, even 
without possessing the power of jurisdiction, 
and consequently without that of dispensation : 
such are the congregations with approved rules 
attributing to them the right of annulling 
simple vows by the very fact of the legitimate 
dismissal of a, subject. But for this annulment, 
superiors must carefully remark that the dis- 
missal must be legitimate, that is, founded on 
the motives of exclusion established by the 
constitutions themselves. 

When a religious obliges his superiors by 
his wicked conduct to dismiss him and to free 
him from his vows, let him know, that besides 
the sins of which he may have rendered him- 
self guilty against other obligations of con- 
science in this affair, he commits a very griev- 
ous and special one against the charity that 



57 

he owes to himself^ by causing the loss of his 
vocation and by thereby exposing his salvation 
out of the way that had been opened to him 
by divine goodness. For, if it be true, that 
in relation to his eternal salvation, this way 
is not for him a sort of geometrical line, which 
once left, he may no longer hope for divine 
help, it must nevertheless, be said, that in 
leaving the providential plan traced out for 
him by God, he puts himself out of the cur- 
rent of abundant help which had been pre- 
pared for him in that path, and that conse- 
quently he greatly exposes himself to fail 
finally in saving his soul. 

3d. Dispensation. The head of the Church 
only has the power to grant a dispensation from 
the solemn vows of religion. Every bishop, 
in his own diocese, possesses the ordinary 
power to dispense from simple vows, excepting 
the five that are reserved to the Pope, among 
which it suffices to name the perpetual vow of 
absolute chastity. The simple vows of religion, 
even the temporary ones, in institutes ap- 
proved by the Holy See, must also be excepted. 

As to the vow of entering religion it is %lso 
reserved to the Pope, but only when it is a 
vow of entering into a religious order properly 
so called ; and we know by the declaration of 
the Holy See, that this case no longer exists 
in our days as applied to any community of 
women in France. * 

4th. Commutation of Vows. According to 
theology every person has the right to com- 

* We believe the same applies to the United States. 



58 

mute his own vow into one evidently better, 
by the very fact that the second virtually en- 
closes the first. This is a certain principle, 
although in its application prudence often re- 
quires that one should not trust altogether to 
one's own judgment. Hence as a general pro- 
position, comes the right possessed by every 
religious of passing to a more perfect institute: 
which is nothing but the commutation by him- 
self of his vows into better vows. But this 
application of the principle requiring further 
consideration, we shall return to this weighty 
matter more explicitly further on. (1) 



CHAPTER II. 

ON THE EXCELLENCE OF THE VOWS OF RELIGION 
AND THE STATE OF PERFECTION. 

ARTICLE I. 

EXCELLENCE OF THESE VOWS. 

Section I. — The Voivs of Religion compared 
with other Vows. 

We shall not here treat at length of the 
different kinds of vows. Nevertheless let us 
indicate the principal distinctions. 

We recognize the personal vow, and the real 
vow, the absolute vow, and the conditional vow, 
the perpetual vow, and the temporary v ow , the 
common vow, and the special vow of religion. 

(1) Chapter III, art. IV. 



59 

The personal vow imposes its obligation 
exclusively to the person making it, and this 
obligation is not transmissible to any other. 

The real vow makes the obligation fall 
directly on the object that is promised to God, 
so that the obligation may be transmitted to 
another person and become obligatory on him; 
for example, an heir. 

The vow is absolute when something is prom- 
ised to God without any condition, it is con- 
ditional if the execution of the thing prom- 
ised depends on some condition. It is only 
in case the condition is fulfilled, that the 
conditional vow is obligatory. 

The vow is perpetual when one means to 
bind oneself for life. It is temporary when 
the engagement is only for a time. 

The common vow is one in which any good 
work is promised to God. 

The vow of religion is the one by which the 
promise of entering into religion is made to 
God, and the vows of religion are those by 
which poverty, chastity, and obedience are 
promised to God in that same state. 

The vows of religion contain the most per- 
fect, the most agreeable homage to God, and 
consequently the most meritorious, after mar- 
tyrdom, that man can offer in this world to the 
Divine Majesty. They are as a bouquet of the 
most sweet fragrance to the Lord, and none can 
equal its beauty in His sight. This bouquet 
is composed of three necessary and inseparable 
flowers, and it can be made only in the religious 



60 

state, wherein are found, moreover, abundant 
means of preserving it from all harm, of keep- 
ing, up its freshness, of daily increasing its 
brilliancy, and of still setting it off by all the 
accessory ornaments of which it is susceptible. 
That the three vows of religion are an en- 
gagement to all that is most elevated in the 
doctrine of Jesus Christ or Christian morals, 
that is, an engagement to the practice of the 
evangelical counsels, is the manifest proof of this 
eulogium. But here, several explanations are 
necessary. 

Section II. — The Evangelical Counsels. 

I. — What is generally meant by the evangeli- 
cal counsels? 

We must recall in order that this may be 
better understood, what we have already ex- 
plained, that there are two kinds of sanctity 
on earth : the one, reduced to its essential ele- 
ments, consists in not being detached from God 
by mortal sin; the other rises to a higher de- 
gree of purity and union with Him. Two sorts 
of means correspond to these two sorts of sanc- 
tity: some are rigorously exacted by God, the 
others are only dependent upon His will and good 
pleasure. Therefore besides our obligatory ac- 
tions, there is a crowd of others by which we 
may please the Lord, that are not prescribed by 
any law. And even in the acts commanded, 
more or less perfection, purity and care may be 
added to what is of rigorous obligation both 
by the intention brought to bear upon them 



61 

and by the manner of doing them. Jesus 
Christ in His gospel and the Holy Ghost by the 
good movements He suggests interiorly to our 
hearts, invite us to this; and these invitations 
are what are termed counsels in opposition to 
what is comprised under the name of precepts. 

II. — There are two distinct kinds of evangeli- 
cal counsels : some having only special matters 
or particular acts as their object; the others 
embracing a general, or, so to say, universal 
matter. 

Thus Jesus Christ gives special counsels 
when He tells us to bless those who curse us, 
to do good to our enemies, even in the case 
wherein we are not so bound by the precept, 
to turn the left cheek to those who have struck 
us on the right, etc. There are in every virtue 
and even in every commandment of God, special 
counsels inviting us to do what is beyond the 
duty of conscience, either as regards such or 
such a circumstance, or as regards what relates 
to a more or less perfect intention, the more or 
less multiplied number of acts, the greater or 
lesser fervor with which we may act. Finally, 
it is also a special counsel to engage oneself by 
vow to any good work, whether free, or com- 
manded : if free, you impose upon yourself a 
duty not imposed by God; if commanded, you 
add to the already existing obligation a new 
one of your own choice; and thus in order to 
be more pleasing to the Lord, you multiply the 
ties that bind you to Him. 



62 

The counsels that embrace a general and, as 
it were, universal matter are precisely the three 
that are given to us in the Gospel by Jesus 
Christ, regarding poverty, chastity, obedience, 
and the accomplishment of which extends over 
one's whole life so as to make it a special kind 
of life. 

Suarez (1) remarks^that ordinarily the special 
counsels have the same object as the precepts. 
It is only by reason of circumstances that they 
become simply counsels: to love our enemies, 
for example, and to do good to those who per- 
secute us, is a commandment on certain occa- 
sions, and only a counsel on others; whilst the 
three counsels now spoken of are altogether 
outside the precepts. The first, as St. Thomas 
again explains, (2) belong to perfection already 
acquired and their observance proceeds from 
the superabundance of charity. The second, 
on the contrary, are general means serving to 
the acquisition of perfection by furnishing 
proper instruments to all the virtues espe- 
cially to charity. Hence is it that Our Lord 
Jesus Christ chose those last three to oppose 
them to the three concupiscences, which are 
the three great obstacles to perfection. Hence 
also the reason why they are properly and espe- 
cially called the evangelical counsels, and it 
is the practice of this sublime portion of the 
Gospel, which causes those engaging themselves 
thereto by state of life in the Church to be 

(1) De Eeligione, lib. I, c. 8. 

(2) 2a, 2se, q. 186, a. 2. 



63 

called ''the chosen portion of the flock of Jesus 
Christ." 

III. — Cannot a person, without being a re- 
ligious, vow to God poverty, chastity, and obe- 
dience? 

1st. It is easy to see that out of the religious 
state, the keeping of the three evangelical 
counsels can only be partial, that it must neces- 
sarily remain incomplete, and that it will never 
have that character of universality that em- 
braces the entire life with all its acts. He who 
lives in the world is not in a position to prac- 
tice poverty and obedience and therefore not 
in a position to make a vow of them in an ab- 
solute manner; and, considering the necessities 
of life, the exercise made of them by him can 
only be a special practice of the evangelical 
counsels. That tlxey may have their whole 
perfection and the fullness of their execution, 
what Our Lord Himself said must be done: If 
you would be perfect, (1) go, that is leave the 
world; sell all that you have, that is strip 
yourself of all ownership, and come into a 
place and state, in which, possessing nothing, 
without ever ceasing to be totally poor, you 
shall nevertheless always find the necessaries 
of life, thanks to the attentions of my Provi- 
dence ; and there you shall equally find it 
easier to follow me in the perfection of chastity: 
but you shall, above all, find the means of be- 
coming like me obedient even unto death, and 

(1) If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell what thou hast and 
give to the poor . . . and come follow me. Matt, xix, 21. 



64 

by the most universal subjection of your will of 
consecrating to Me your entire life. 

2nd. Without being a religious, it is possible 
to devote oneself, in a certain measure more or 
less wide, to the practice of the three evangeli- 
cal counsels, and God sometimes invites some 
souls to this without calling them to the reli- 
gious life on that account. But then much 
light and watchfulness are required to discern 
precisely what is His holy will, and much dis- 
cretion is needed in order to fix the just limits 
to be imposed upon oneself: so that a director, 
wise according to God, is almost always indis- 
pensable in things so delicate. 

Thus, God has raised up in His Church ad- 
mirable examples of evangelical poverty, even 
out of the religious state, either consecrated 
by a special vow, or having an ardent charity 
as its sole bond. Who does not know St. 
Alexis and the Blessed Benedict-Joseph Labre, 
whose heroic mendicity has just been glorified 
by the Holy See? 

Chastity can be vowed out of the religious 
state, as is proved by the constant practice of 
the Church; and many secular persons may be 
called to this life by God. Nevertheless it is 
only with great circumspection, and after hav- 
ing well considered all the circumstances as to 
the present and the future, that this perpetual 
vow should be made in the world. In this 
matter a temporary vow is of a nature to be 
more easily allowed, and even there seems to 
be no reason why this consolation, merit or help 



65 

should be refused to a good soul thereunto ap- 
parently inclined by grace. All objection will 
disappear if only a short space is embraced at 
a time, after which it can always be seen 
whether or not it be suitable to renew the en- 
gagement. 

Finally, Suarez tells us (1) that without be- 
ing a religious it is possible to vow obedience 
to another, for example, to a confessor: either 
on condition of its being accepted by the 
other, or even without this acceptance being 
a necessary condition. It would be most suita- 
ble, however, that the one to whom this obe- 
dience is vowed should be informed of it in 
order that he may be more circumspect in his 
commands. However, no one can be made to 
change his actual state, in virtue of this vow, 
as to marry, to become a religious, or not to 
enter into religion ; in a word, obedience for 
him, must remain within the limits of his con- 
dition, and nothing can be prescribed to him 
out of accordance with his ordinary duties. 
Even a Prelate or a religious may, within the 
same limits, vow to God this kind of obedience 
to another man, as was done by St. Teresa in 
regard to her confessors. 

Section III. — The Religious Profession compared 

to Baptism. 

"The Religious profession is a second bap- 
tism ;" thus speak the holy Doctors; and the 
reason given by them is that it produces three 

(1) DeRelig., lib. X, c. 3. 
6* 



similar effects: it effaces sin, it causes the old 
man to die, and it communicates a new life. 

I. — The religious profession, just as baptism 
does, remits all sin ; this is the common doc- 
trine of theologians, following St. Thomas and 
St. Antonius. So full and entire a condona- 
tion is then made of all temporal punishment 
due to sin, that were a religious to die imme- 
diately after his profession, he would go straight 
to Heaven, without having any Purgatory to 
fear. And the Angel of the schools remarks 
(1) that this remission of sins is not gratuit- 
ous as in baptism ; but that it is the fruit of 
the greatest satisfaction that man can offer to 
God, since at that moment he sacrifices all to 
Him, in sacrificing himself. (2) 

St. Anselm relates the fact of a religious 
who appeared to his brethren and related to 
them the straggle he had had to sustain with 
the devil at the moment of death. He seemed 
already to be before the tribunal of God and 
the enemy of salvation had presented himself 
to accuse him ; but some one from Heaven also 
appeared to defend him. Satan having brought 
up against him the faults he had committed 
before baptism, (he had received it when an 
adult), the accused replied that the holy water 
had effaced them: which was confirmed by the 

(1) In 4, sent. Diet. 4, q. 3, a. 3. 

(2) It seems just that a fervent renovation of vows 
should share proportionately in the merit of their first pro- 
fession, and that every one may hope for this participation 
according to the measure of the dispositions which he 
brings to the renewal. 



07 

heavenly defender. The enemy fell back upon 
other sins committed after baptism ; but the 
religious thought to silence him, by repeating 
what had been told to him, that nothing of 
them remained since the day of his profession, 
and in fact his defender sustained him by a 
demonstration without reply. Finally, the 
devil having wished to make the faults com- 
mitted in the course of his religious life count 
against him, the dying man again had his 
ready answer, supported as before by his celes- 
tial advocate, which was that they had been 
covered by means of his careful confessions and 
by the very works of the religious life. 

A very similar fact is related by St. Athana- 
sius in the life of St. Anthony. 

II. — The religious profession just as baptism 
does, gives death to the old man. In fact : 1st. 
the religious then dies to the world and to all 
that is of the world. The threefold renounce- 
ment of Satan, his pomps and his works, is 
even much more energetic and much more com- 
plete in the profession of the vows than in the 
baptismal promises, and the triple concupis- 
cence which is the life of the old man receives 
there a much more vigorous stroke. 

2nd. The religious, by the engagement of his 
vows, ceases to be what he was towards men, so 
much so that formerly the law declared him 
dead as regards his rights as a citizen. From 
that day he is no longer of the world, and the 
world no longer knows him; and if he wished 
to reappear therein, he would be looked upon 



68 

and be treated as a stranger, out of his place, 
as one dead who had returned among the living. 

3rd. But, above all, God no longer keeps ac- 
count of the past ip regard to a roan who has 
devoted himself to Him in such a way. In 
His sight, the religious, no less than the newly 
baptized, is buried in the tomb with Jesus 
Christ, and in that state wherein he sees him, 
as His Beloved Son, disengaged from his old 
effects, He finds nothing in him of what for- 
merly wounded His Divine Eyes, notwithstand- 
ing the remains of concupiscence still felt by 
him and left him for combat and merit. (1) 

III. — The profession of the vows, as the 
Apostle again says of holy baptism, (2) causes 
the religious to pass to a new life. After hav- 
ing too often, by his worldly life, been like the 
first Adam and earthly like him, the religious 
on the day of his vows begins to resemble the 
second Adam, and after His example, he sees 
himself, he feels himself, as if transformed by 
His grace into a celestial man. (3) Then does 

(1) In renatis nihil odit Deus; quia nihil damnationis est 
iis qui vere consepulti sunt cum Christo per baptisma in 
mortem. . . . Manere autem concupiscentiam vel fomitem 
hsec sancta Synodus fatetur et sentit, quae cum ad agonem 
relicta sit, nocere non consentientibus, sed viriliter per 
Christi Jesu gratiam repugnantibus non valet; quinimo 
qui legitime certaverit coronabitur. Cone. Trid. sess. V, 
De Pecc, orig. 5. 

(2) As Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the 
Father, so we also may walk in newness of life. Romans, 
vi, 4. 

(3) The first man was of the earth, earthly; the second 
man from heaven, heavenly; such as is the earthly, such 



69 

all become new to him: new thoughts, new sen- 
timents, new appreciations and new tendencies, 
new tastes and new enjoyments, new works and 
a new manner of performing them: so that to 
him must also be applied what the Council of 
Trent says of the newly baptized, "He no lon- 
ger walks according to the flesh, but despoiled 
of the old man, in all the details of his new 
life he has, by his profession become innocent, 
immaculate, pure, without stain and cherished 
of God." (1) 

A passage of St. Bernard will sum up all 
these considerations: "You wish to learn from 
me how it is that among all the other means oi 
doing penance, the religious profession has mer- 
ited the prerogative of being called a second bap- 
tism ? It is because it is a perfect renunciation of 
the world, and because the singular excellence 
of the spiritual life led therein, raises it above 
all other manner of life on earth: so that re- 
ligious leaving the likeness of men, assume that 
of the Angels, and even re-establish in them- 
selves the image of God, by conforming them- 
selves to Jesus Christ, as happens in baptism. 
But just as this sacrament grasps us away from 
the power of darkness to transfer us to the 
Kingdom of eternal light, so by this second 
regeneration that is produced by so holy an en- 
gagement, we escape from the darkness not only 

also are the earthly; and such as is the heavenly, such also 
are they that are heavenly. I Cor. xv, 47, 48. 

(1) Qui non secundum carnem ambulant, sed veterem 
hominem exuentes, innocentes, immaculati, puri, innoxii 
ac Deo dilecti effecti sunt. Cone Trid., ibid. 



70 

of original sin, but also of many actual sins, 
to enter into the light of the virtues, applying 
to ourselves anew these words of the Apostle: 
'the night has passed and the day has ap- 
proached/ " (1) 

Section IV. — Religious Profession compared to 

Martyrdom. 

Speaking of religious devotedness in St. 
Paula's epitaph, St. Jerome expresses himself 
thus : "It is not only by the effusionof blood that 
martyrdom is to be reckoned, but the perfect 
service of a soul devoting its life to the Lord is 
also a daily martyrdom ; the first weaves its 
crown with roses and violets, the second forms 
its of lilies.'' (2) If in fact, the martyrdom of 
blood is the greatest act of charity that man is 
capable of producing, with the aid of grace, 

(2) Audire vultis a me unde, inter caetera pcenitentiae 
instituta, mcnasterialis disciplina meruerit hanc praeroga- 
tivam, ut secundum baptisma nuncupeturV Arbitror, ob 
perfectam mundi abrenuntiationem, et singularem excel- 
lentiam vitae spiritualis, qua praeeminens universis vitas 
humanae generibus hujusmodi conversatio professores suos 
angelis similes facit; immo divinam in homine reformat 
imaginem, configurans nos Christo instar baptismi. Sed 
et quomodo in baptismo eruimur de potestate tenebrarum 
et transferimur in regnum claritatis aeternae; ita et in sanc- 
tissimi hujus secunda quadam regeneratione propositi, de 
tenebris aeque non unius originalis sed multorum actuali- 
um delictorum, in lumen virtutum evadimus, redaptantes 
nobis -illud Apostoli: Nox praecessit, dies autem appropin- 
quavit. S. Bernard, Praecepto et Disciplina. 

(1) Non solum effusio sanguinis martyrium reputatur, 
sed devotee quoque mentis servitus immaculata quotidia- 
num martyrium est: ilia corona de rosis et violis texitur, 
ista de liliis. 



71 

the religious sacrifice, by its daily devotedness, 
so multiplies acts of charity, that they are ca- 
pable of equalling and sometimes of surpassing 
the merit of the shedding of blood. 

The martyrdom of blood lasts but a short 
time, and one great effort may be sufficient to 
insure its reward; that of the religious pro- 
fession is generally much longer, and redeems 
by its duration what is wanting in violence 
and intensity. It is necessary in it to die 
daily, according to St. Paul's expression, (1) 
that is, that therein we must ceaselessly strike 
redoubled blows at corrupt nature, by mortifi- 
cation^ which, according to the force of the 
word, is to operate death. (2) 

Martyr signifies witness: and what testimony 
can be more beautiful than that rendered by 
religious profession^ and how glorious it is to 
God and salutary to men ! Glorious to God 
whose rights to all our services it each instant 
proclaims; salutary to men, either to our 
brethren themselves by the daily encourage- 
ment of good example, or to the persons of the 
world, who find therein an eloquent preaching 
of Christian truth. And in fact, how many 
times, has not this aspect of virtue recognized 
and appreciated by the impious, caused faith 
to re-enter into his soul, and elicited from his 
will holy resolutions ! 

(1) I die daily. I Cor. xv, 31. 

(2) For thy sake we are put to death all the day long. 
Romans, viii, 36. 



72 

II. — But the religious profession is not a 
single martyrdom, it contains several at one 
and the same time. 

1st. There is the martyrdom of voluntary 
poverty. Let us listen to St. Bernard: "Why 
is it that in the Sermon on the Mount, the 
same promise is made to the poor and to the 
martyrs, if not because voluntary poverty is a 
species of martyrdom?" (t) And with as 
much truth as energy, he thus describes this 
martyrdom of religious poverty. Temporal 
goods were held, with the assurance of the ad- 
vantages by them procured, and despoliation 
has given the constraint of poverty and incer- 
titude of the future. Something might, at 
least, have been acquired, but the very right 
of receiving what the world might offer, has 
been taken away. In vain does Satan strive 
to tempt to cupidity; all hopes have been 
renounced and his temptations are scorned. 
But there are, above all, in the human heart 
that strong and subtle love of ease, that pro- 
pensity to create imaginary necessities, that 
desire for the little comforts of life, which 
are as a continual itching. But self is con- 
stantly overcome, every day resistance is made 
for the love of the Lord to all those prickings 
of nature. How many crowns! What rights 
to the riches and delights of Paradise ! (2) 

(1) Quid sibi vult quod eaderu promissio facta est pau- 
peribus et martyribus, nisi quia vere martyrii genus est 
paupertas voluntaria? 

(2) Paupertate premi inter divitias quas affert mundus, 
quas ostentat diabolus, quas desiderat noster iste appetitus: 



•73 

2ndly. Religious chastity is even a more 
glorious and more meritorious martyrdom than 
poverty. For, says the Holy Spirit, man's 
life is a warfare on earth; but what is the 
principal object of this incessant struggle, if 
not sensuality? Intestine and domestic war 
in which the enemy is within, always in arms, 
and never discouraged; wherein even after 
having fled from exterior occasions and seduc- 
tions, the flesh still is there tormenting the 
spirit. What noble testimony, then, does not 
the perfectly chaste soul render to God, when 
it thus preserves its treasure in a fragile 
vessel? Alas, says St. Isidore, u by the vice 
of impurity, more than by any other, does the 
devil subjugate mankind ;" and St. Augustine 
observes, u that among all the combats sus- 
tained by Christians, the hardest are those of 
chastity, wherein the struggle is daily and the 
victory is rare." (1) And yet how many pure 
souls in religious houses! What vigilance in 
repulsing the least attack ! What fidelity in 
keeping oneself from the slightest stain ! In 
a word, what glory is rendered to that divine 
grace that triumphs in infirmity ! 

3rdly. The third martyrdom of the religious 
life, obedience, is the most meritorious of all, 
since it immolates what is best and dearest to 

an non merito coronabitur qui sic certaverit, mundum abji- 
cienspromittentera, irridens inimicum tentantem, et quod 
gloriosius est, de seipso triumphans, et crucifigens concu- 
piscentiam prurientem V Bern., Serm. 1, omnium sanct. 
(1) Inter omnia christianorum certamina, duriora sunt 
prselia castitatis ubi quotidiana est pugna et rara victoria. 

i 



u 

man, his own will; it is the most extended and 
the most continual,, since it embraces every 
action and the whole existence of the religious. 

III. — A last and striking consideration on the 
martyrdom of the religious life to be still pre- 
sented, is its resemblance to the crucifixion. 
Like Jesus Christ religious are crucified men; and 
it is by the vows that this martyrdom is exe- 
cuted. After having been, so to speak, measured 
to their future cross during their novitiate, the 
moment of extending them thereon arrives: 
it is that of their profession, and they are 
attached thereunto bv three nails; so that 
they can say with the Apostle: " Our old man 
is crucified ' (1) with the nails of the three 
vows. And this is how the effects of this 
spiritual crucifixion are explained by pious 
authors : 

First, a nail, wheti driven in, begins by 
pushing out the obstacle met with. The same 
is done in the soul of the religious by the nails 
of the holy vows; they drive out unruly affec- 
tions in a way to destroy in him at the start 
the body of sin, of which St. Paul speaks. (2) 

Then by a second effect, the nails pierce and 
tear the crucified members ; to such an extent, 
that in consequence of this violent suspension 
of the whole body on three painful points, life 
becomes but one continual and universal suf- 

(1) Vetus homo noster crucifixus est. Rom. vi, 6. 

(2) Our old man is crucified with him, that the body of 
sin may be destroyed, to the end that we may serve sin no 
longer. Rom. vi, 6. 



75' 

fering. And this, in some manner, takes place 
in the religious life, the three vows being ever 
there to make themselves felt. It is a state of 
life and death like that of those on the cross, 
and the religious, as well as the crucified is, 
according to the Apostle's saying, a man liv- 
ing and dying at the same time. (1) 

The third effect of nails for the sufferer is to 
hold him so strongly to the cross, that no 
means are left him of detaching himself, espe- 
cially if the point has been bent. Is not this 
done by the vows of religion, principally by 
the perpetual vows, by the solemn vows, in 
which all the points are, so to say, bent back ! 
Then and thenceforth the cross can no longer 
be left, unless one is willing to suffer the ter- 
rible laceration of apostasy. Moveover the 
crucified, so tightly held to his cross, has no 
longer any liberty in his acts, nor even in his 
least movement; it is thus with the religious 
fixed by his holy vows. Finally, when a man 
is raised on a cross, he is suspended between 
heaven and earth; and such, from the day of 
his profession is the situation of the religious 
in this world: his feet and his senses are still 
near to the earth, but his head and his mind 
are close to Heaven; by trial and labor yet of 
this world, by desire and the certitude of his 
hope he already lives in the next. 

It is related in St. Bernard's life that he one 
day met a malefactor, laden with chains, who 
was being taken to the gallows by the soldiers 

(1) As dying and behold we live. II Cor. vi, 9. 



76 

of the Count of Champagne. The holy Abbot, 
moved by an inspiration from on high, ap- 
proaches the archers and begged them to turn 
over this man unto him, assuring them that he 
would chastise him as he deserved. The re- 
quest provoked astonishment, and whilst he 
was insisting to overcome the soldiers' refusal, 
the Count of Champagne, who was hunting in 
the neighboring forest, coming up unexpect- 
edly, after having saluted the Saint with ven- 
eration was very much surprised at the repeti- 
tion of his proposition. ll What ! holy father/' 
exclaimed the prince, "you must not know 
what a rascal it is in whom you have taken an 
interest !" Forthwith he related the transgres- 
sions of the man, for which, he added, he 
assuredly deserves hanging. "I admit all 
that," smilingly replied the Saint, " and that is 
just why I propose to inflict upon him his chas- 
tisement myself, that will be not one but many 
deaths." At last, he succeeded in having the 
culprit turned over to him and led him to 
Clairvaux. A victorious grace had already 
penetrated the heart of this man, the holy 
Abbot's charity was so blessed, that the male- 
factor, after an exemplary conversion, was 
judged worthy of being admitted among the 
religious; and there, during more than thirty 
years, he verified St. Bernard's words, inflict- 
ing upon himself with his own hands, by rig- 
orous austerities the chastisement which other 
hands would have caused him to endure^ but 
once. 



11 



ARTICLE II. 

ON THE RELIGIOUS STATE OR STATE OF PERFECTION. 

Section I, — In ichat a State precisely consists, 
and especially the Religious State. 

I. — The word state, status, comes from the 
Latin Verb stare, to stand; and the name state 
is therefore proper for a certain position taken 
by a thing having regard for the requirements 
of its nature so that it may be suitably in a 
sort of fixity and repose. Thus a man is said 
to stand stat, when having his feet resting 
securely below and his head raised above, all 
the members of his body are in a suitable dis- 
position of steady equilibrium and immobility. 

(i) 

In the moral order, things extrinsic to man 
and easily variable, do not constitute in his 
regard what may be called a state; but a. state 
must affect his very person, when on account 
of a fixed or permanent cause, he becomes 
master of himself or dependent on others. 
This is why a state is said to suppose a certain 
condition of servitude or liberty. 

An office, a charge, a dignity are not states, 
because they can be taken or left, and do not 
affect the very condition of a person. 

An office is properly so-called on account of 
the acts therein exercised : for example, the one 
filling the office of judge is appointed to pro- 
nounce sentences. But a state means a posi- 

(1) 2a, 2se, q. 183, a. 1. 



78 

tion inherent in the person according as it 
makes him free or dependent. If certain 
charges, certain employments are called states, 
it is only on account of the subjection and 
fixity or permanency therein involved. 

Thus there is the state of grace and the 
state of sin. In the first, St. Paul tells us 
that man is liberated from sin and subject to 
justice; in the second he shakes off the yoke 
of divine law, to become the slave of sin. (1) 

There is the state called by theology the 
state of traveller, and the state of comprehend 
or, one detains man in the condition of the 
present life's pilgrimage; the other delivers 
him and places him in the blessed subjection 
of the beatific vision. 

There is the state of marriage that places 
some under the conjugal law, and the state of 
continence that hold others back by a con- 
trary engagement. 

II. — To come to our subject, there are the 
secular state and the religious state. These two 
states considered relatively to evangelical per- 
fection are called : the first the common state or 
state of precept, the second perfect state or state 
of counsel. 

A secular without being in that latter state, 
not having subjected himself to it, may never- 
theless acquire the interior perfection of it 
and even in a higher degree than such or such 
a religious; but the religous has this charac- 
teristic that he is bound in a firm and lasting 

(1) Romans, vi, 16. 



79 

manner to the obligations of his state, that 
he makes public profession of being in this 
state, and that he possesses therein most 
efficacious means of perfection that cannot be 
had by a person in the world. 

The religious state therefore, affects the per- 
son, insomuch that by the vows of religion it 
makes one enter into a position of life that 
does not change, and this position is at one 
and the same time a holy servitude and a holy 
liberty. It is a holy servitude by the happy 
necessity in which one has voluntarily placed 
oneself in regard to God and virtue ; but the 
results are in nowise those supposed by worldly 
minds, namely, the loss or the diminution of 
true liberty ; rather, it is quite the contrary, 
proofs of which may be read in Kodriguez, (1) 
therefore is this -necessity full of merit for 
religious ? On the other hand it is a holy 
freedom from the yoke that weighs on so many 
others ; liberation from the world, its seduc- 
tions, its wants, its vanities; in a certain 
measure even freedom from concupiscence and 
sin. 

Section II. — The Peculiar Merit of the Religious 

State. 

I. — In the devotedness to God that is con- 
tained in that state, does the merit of a 
religious life appear. For the very fact of 
having placed oneself in God's service in an 
immutable position, and of having voluntarily 

(1) On Perfect., part III, 2d treatise, 5 ch. 



80 

chained oneself to Him by a holy necessity, 
makes it manifest that much more is done for 
the Divine Master, and consequently for oneself 
than could have been done in the world with 
even an equal desire of serving God and of 
sanctifying self. 

In fact, God thus receives, according to the 
language of the Saints, not only the fruits of the 
tree and of the ground, but the tree and the 
ground themselves; and who does not know 
that assuring to some one the ownership of 
the soil is, without comparison, much more 
than offering to him its fruits ? 

Likewise, had this tree remained in the arid 
earth of the world, it might, like so many 
others, have been fated to bear little or no 
fruit; but transplanted near the running waters, 
(1) all favorable conditions are enjoyed by it 
for becoming abundantly laden. The soil of 
the soul, left under an unwholesome influence, 
or given up to whims, to instability, to sloth, 
would have been exposed to be overgrown with 
briars and thistles, whilst specially confided 
to the Divine Husbandman and placed under 
the action of His most abundant graces, it 
gives just hopes of a rich harvest. 

Finally, the special merit of religious de- 
votedness consists in its being the highest 
expression of devotion : for, as we have seen, 
devotion is nothing but a certain will to give 
oneself promptly and unreservedly to every 
thing that belongs to the service of God ; and 

(1) Psalm i, 3. 



81 

nowhere does this promptitude and this pleni- 
tude of will appear so much as in the religious 
profession. If, for instance, a Christian in the 
world has a determination equal to that of 
the religious of refusing nothing to the Lord ; 
will this purpose be lasting, thus left to it- 
self? Can it, in case of need, be sustained, 
excited, revived, as it is in the bosom of a 
religious community among brethren who sup- 
port us when we faint ? But even should we 
grant it to be as good, as constant, and as pro- 
ductive of equal acts of virtue ; still must the 
merit be less because there is lacking that of 
the religious sacrifice. 

II. — A curious objection raised by some men 
of the world against religious persons must now 
be examined. In leaving the world, say they, 
you have tied from difficulties, you have shown 
a want of courage and your virtue being more 
easy will therefore be less meritorious. 

We ought first to ask the speakers, if it is real- 
ly in order to merit more that they restrain 
themselves from abandoning the world. 

We might add, that if they and others can 
triumph over the world whilst remaining in 
the midst of its dangers, others more diffident, 
feel above all the necessity they are in of fleeing 
from those same dangers, and make their first 
merit consist in making sure of their eternal 
interests. 

But St. Thomas gives us a more instructive 
and complete reply. (1) 

(1) 2a, 2ae, q. 184, a. 8, ad 6m. 



82 

We must, distinguish two sorts of difficulties 
in regard to virtue: one belonging to the work 
itself, when it is arduous; the other proceeding 
from exterior obstacles. 

The first effectively increases the merit, be- 
cause this proceeds from the very excellence of 
the work which is to be done. 

As to the second kind of difficulty that pro- 
ceeds from without, it sometimes diminishes 
the perfection of virtue, other times it is the 
indication of more perfect virtue. In those 
not loving virtue enough to be willing to dis- 
engage themselves from the things that pro- 
duce the obstacles, it diminishes the perfection 
of virtue. In him who seeing himself unex- 
pectedly or forcibly in presence of an obstacle, 
remains faithful to virtue, it is a sign of a more 
perfect virtue. 

It is manifest that the first kind of difficulty 
which increases merit, exists much more in the 
religious state than in any other, since all that 
is most arduous and most perfect in the Chris- 
tian life is therein aimed at. As for the diffi- 
culty of the second kind, it is most true that 
religious strive in every way to escape from it 
in every case and this is an effect of their wis- 
dom, as well as a proof of their love of virtue, 
and the special matter of their merit. Besides 
they do not deny that those who are compelled 
to remain in presence of difficulties can give 
signs of a still greater virtue, if really faithful. 

III. — In support of this answer, let us add 
still a great principle of the same St. Thomas, 



83 

which is everywhere of frequent application 
in the service of God. Virtue, he tells us, 
consists less in the difficulty encountered than 
in the good done: so that the greatness of a 
virtuous act is rather to he measured by its 
goodness than by its difficulty, for it is the good 
act, rather than the difficult act, which counts 
for merit; whence it follows that we must con- 
sider as most meritorious, not what is more 
difficult or more painful, but that which is at 
the same time more difficult and better, or 
which draws from its difficulty an increase of 
goodness. (1) Now, goodness flows from three 
things; from the goodness of the object, from 
the goodness of the intention, and from chari- 
ty. The martyrs, for example, merited much 
in suffering for Jesus Christ; but the Blessed 
Virgin merited more than all of them by her 
least acts, although perhaps there was not al- 
ways suffering in them. And this is a practi- 
cal truth that offers a real direction for the 
consolation of those souls to whom it is not 
given to suffer as much for God as they would 
desire. 

IV. — Another teaching of the angelic Doctor 
will complete the question of the merit of the 
religious state; he addresses himself to those 

(1) Ibid., q. 123, a. 12; etq. 27, a. 8. Ratio virtutis magis 
cousistit in bono quam in difflcili: unde rnagis mensuranda 
est virtutis magnitudo secundum rationem boni quam dif- 
ficilis. — Plus facit ad rationem meriti bonum quam diffi- 
cile; unde non oportet quod omne quod est difficilius, sit 
magis meritorium; sed quod sic est difficilius, ut sit etiam 
melius. 



84 

who are more preoccupied by the sight of their 
past sins and the need they feel of doing pen- 
ance for them, than by the thought or the desire 
of perfection. These are his words: "The re- 
ligious state has, without doubt, been instituted 
principally for the acquisition of perfection, 
and this is why exercises and means removing 
obstacles to perfect charity are found therein. 

But by the very fact that these obstacles are 
removed, so with greater reason are the causes 
of sin which totally destroys charity also re- 
moved. And as in this does penance properly 
and principally consist, namely in diminishing 
the causes of sin, it follows that no state is 
more proper to penance than the religious state. 
Thus Canon law cites the example of a great 
culprit who was advised rather to enter a 
monastery than to undergo public penance 
whilst remaining in the world; and the reason 
given is that penance there is as a whole, both 
better and slighter/' (1) 

We shall not repeat what has been said above 
as to the satisfactory works which the religious 
profession gives us occasion of performing for 
the expiation of sin. 

Section III. — On an essential condition for the 
merit of the religious in his state. 

Although the great act of profession of vows 
be of excellent merit before God, nevertheless 
a truth which cannot be too often repeated to 
those who have made this act is, that its merit, 

(1) 2a, 2se, q. 185, a. 8. (2) Ch. II, art. II, sect. III. 



85 

not to become illusory, exacts an indispensable 
condition, namely, that of the accomplish- 
ment and of fidelity in keeping this promise. 
As it is not the habit that makes the religious, 
so it is not the perfection of his state that gives 
him his personal perfection, but the perform- 
ance of the duties of his state. Let us again 
allow St. Thomas to speak. (1) Some persons, 
he tells us, without being in the state of per- 
fection, can be perfect, and others may be in 
the state of perfection yet be far from perfect. 
The state of perfection is one thing, and perfec- 
tion of life another. A person is said to be in the 
state of perfection, not because he effectually 
possesses perfect charity, but because he is bound 
to deeds of perfection. It happens that some per- 
sons impose obligations upon themselves that 
they do not keep, whilst others do the good to 
which thev are net obliged ; as is told us in the 
Gospel of the two sons whom their father sent 
to work in his vinevard, one answered: "I will 
not," and later he went nevertheless; whilst 
the other having answered: "I go, sir/' not- 
withstanding did not go. (2) 

We must ever return to these two words of 
the Psalm: vovete et reddite. (3) "Yes," says 
the Lord to those whom He calls, "offer me 
your vows of religion, no other offering can be 
more pleasing to Me, but on the condition 
of being faithfully accomplished. Nothing is 
so easy, nothing so quickly done as to pronounce 

(1) 2a, 2se, q. 184, a. 4. 

(2) Matthew, xxi, 28, 29, 30, 31* (3) Psalm lv. 

8 



86 

the words of the formula, Vovco, etc. ; but to be 
true to them, that is the great point, (1) and it 
takes in one's whole life. If unfortunately you 
should afterwards forget what you have prom- 
ised ; if you should neglect the obligations of 
your holy vows, not only would you, yourself, 
destroy all the merit of your profession, but 
you would also make it the matter of a judg- 
ment still more rigorous; for says the wise 
man: "An'unfaithful and foolish promise dis- 
pleases God; and it* is much better not to vow, 
than after a vow not to perform the things 
promised." (2) 

Old religious are sometimes heard to speak 
with a certain complacency of the number of 
their years of profession; this vanity is more 
than ridiculous, if their manner of living in re- 
ligion agrees little with their age. 

Section IV. — For an institute to belong to the Re- 
ligious State it must have the approbation of the 
Church. 

I. — Why every institute and pious corpora- 
tion needs to be approved by the Church in 
order to belong to the religious state, is easily 
understood. In fact, let us suppose that a num- 
ber of the faithful gather together with the 
thought of tending conjointly toward evangeli- 
cal perfection. But they need the assurance 
that the true way will be shown them; they 
need a warranty on the legitimacy of the means 

(1) Hoc opus, hie labor est. Virg. 

(2) Ecclesiastes, v, 3, 4. 



87 

proposed to attain the end. This assurance, 
this warrant can be given by no man whatso- 
ever, were he animated with the best inten- 
tions, even were he a Saint. Hence the neces- 
sity of recourse to the Church, of its approba- 
tion ; for it is infallible as well when it pro- 
nounces on a law of manners, as when it estab- 
lishes a doctrine of faith. 

Moreover, this gathering of men wish to con- 
stitute a religious body with its special form, 
with the right of self-government and of in- 
creasing according to its constitutions; for all 
which things the intervention and authority 
of the Church are again necessary. 

This is why, as Suarez teaches, the approba- 
tion of an institute by the Church contains 
two things; the first a doctrinal judgment by 
which it at least implicitly declares that the 
end of the new foundation is holy, its means 
for obtaining this end wise and good; in a word, 
that the kind of life traced out by it is fitted 
to conduct souls to the special perfection it has 
in view. The second thing contained in this 
approbation is an act of jurisdiction by which 
the Church according to this judgment con- 
stitutes it into a religious body, providing it 
with all things necessary to its existence, its 
government and the development of its life. 

Since the General Councils of Lateran and 
Lyons, the approbation of the Holy See is 
necessary, at least for every religious order 
properly so-called. In approving it, the Pope, 
by the very fact, becomes in an exclusive man- 



88 

ner its first superior and prelate; it is he who 
communicates to Superiors the power they are 
to exercise, and who accepts through them the 
vows of all those therein admitted. 

II. — Simple religious congregations, for sim- 
ilar reasons, need to be approved likewise by 
the Church, and this approbation must come 
from at least episcopal authority. When a 
congregation is approved by a bishop in his 
diocese, he becomes its first superior, from 
whom all powers proceed ; but if this congre- 
gation were to spread into other dioceses, it 
must depend similarly upon the respective 
Ordinaries of the places for those of its houses 
that are there located. 

When a congregation solicits the approba- 
tion of the Holy See, the following order is 
generally kept by the Sovereign Pontiff: he first 
grants the decree of eulogium, which is as the 
germ of the formal approbation to be expected ; 
he, later on, approves the fundamental points 
of the institute and constitutes it by apostolic 
authority, or he even then examines and ap- 
proves the body of the constitutions. 

The approbation of the Holy See does not 
change a simple congregation into a religious 
body, properly so-called, unless such should be 
the expressed will and declaration of the head 
of the Church. The effects of this approba- 
tion are: 1st, to give more authority to the 
rule and more stability to its existence; 2d, 
to authorize it to make foundations in every 
part of the Church, with the consent of the 



89 

Ordinaries; 3d, to prevent any change or 
modification being made, by inferior authority, 
in its approved constitutions, its end and its 
means of arriving thereat; 4th, to oblige it 
to have recourse to the Holy See in any extra- 
ordinary occurrence or important act of its 
government. 

Thus, as has been recently declared by the 
Holy See, on several occasions in regard to 
congregations of women, the dispensation of 
vows, even though they be simple or tempo- 
rary, is reserved to it. Its authorization is 
necessary for the alienation of the real estate 
of the congregation, for the transferring else- 
where of the Institute's mother-house, for the 
foundation of a new novitate, for the division 
of the congregation into provinces, and for the 
deposition of a superior-general. Finally, every 
three years an account of the material and per- 
sonal state indicating the number of houses and 
of religious; of the disciplinary state, touching 
the observance of the constitutions and the 
training of Novices; and of the economic state, 
touching the administration of temporal goods, 
is to be sent to Rome. 

The episcopal authority over religious insti- 
tutes approved by the Holy See, is defined by 
the Council of Trent and by the decrees of Sov- 
ereign Pontiffs. We shall speak more espe- 
cially of communities of women. 

For the establishment of a religious house 
in a diocese, the permission of the Ordinary is 
necessary: But the Holy See does not generally 
8* 



90 

approve of a bishop being superior-general, 
or of naming some one to exercise this func- 
tion over a pious institute extending out of 
his diocese, in order not to infringe the rights 
of other bishops. 

The bishop of a place prescribes or approves 
everything touching the ecclesiastical func- 
tions in chapels of the institute, and appoints 
the chaplains who are to preside thereat. He 
assigns the confessors of the community, ordi- 
nary and extraordinary. And no Sister, ex- 
cept when travelling, may apply for absolution 
to any priest but those by him approved for 
nuns. (1) 

He makes, either himself or by a delegate, 
the canonical examination of the novices, such 
as is prescribed by the Council of Trent: that 
is "he examines carefully the will of each, or 
causes it to be thus examined, as well before 
the clothing as before the profession, to assure 
himself that she is neither constrained nor 
misled and that she knows what she is doing/' 

Finally, he is established by the Council of 
Trent to govern the communities of women in 
his diocese, as delegate of the Holy See. In this 
quality he visits the houses, either in person 
or by another, he presides at the general chap- 
ters and confirms the election of the supe- 
rior-general ; and he transmits an account of 
these assemblies to the Sacred Congregation 
of Bishops and Eegulars. 

(1) We use this word in its wider sense. 



91 

III. — The approbation given to a religious 
body by the Church must be the object of a 
serious consideration for every one of its mem- 
bers, on account of the practical consequences 
that flow therefrom: for nothing is more capa- 
ble of exciting confidence in God, nourishing 
the peace of the soul in its vocation, attach- 
ing the religious to his holy state and finally 
of inspiring him with the spirit of obedience. 
This should be the first thing brought to the 
notice of a postulant. 

Every religious should always recognize this 
authority of the Church and respect it every- 
where and in all things in his institute ; it 
will be to him a great and precious exercise of 
the spirit of Faith, since he will see ceaselessly 
realized those words of Our Lord: "He who 
hears you, hears Me." But every child of the 
Church is likewise bound to recognize with re- 
spect its authority in every religious insti- 
tute: for to attack or to despise an order or a 
rule approved by it is to fail in respect for it 
and to sin against religion. 

Let us also remark the solicitude of the 
Church for religious institutes. This is in 
fact, because therein is involved the service 
of God in all that is highest and most perfect: 
therein it sees the portion of the flock that is 
dearest to the Divine Shepherd; therein, 
finally, the experience of centuries show it 
the places in which sanctity has flourished 
with the greatest abundance and splendor. 
What is not, therefore its zeal in maintaining 



92 

or reviving regular observance. Let the many 
councils that have legislated on this subject, 
the many decrees of Sovereign Pontiffs, and 
the acts of many pious bishops give testimony ! 
Since the Church of God, then, loves the reli- 
gious state and religious institutes with so 
special an affection, any one having other sen- 
timents, in their regard, is certainly not ani- 
mated with its spirit, and whoever he may be 
his example can be of no weight when put in 
the balance against its. If blemishes and even 
abuses and defections are met with in a reli- 
gious body, the Church knows how to make 
allowance for human weakness before the ele- 
vated end to be aimed at, and instead of ceas- 
ing to esteem the institute or to love the state, 
it rather labors to restore discipline and fervor. 
Thus should its true children feel and think, 
instead of maliciously taking occasion of the 
faults of individuals to hate and to depreciate 
the state and the body. 

ARTICLE III. 

RELIGIOUS PERFECTION. -* 

Section I. — What is to be exactly understood by 

perfection. 

Mention is often made of perfection, of the 
desire for perfection, of the necessity of becom- 
ing perfect, yet the idea of perfection is but 
too often so vague that the imagination gives 
way to pure illusions, producing only useless 
sentiments and sterile results. 



93 

The following are the fundamental and pre- 
cise ideas of perfection, according to the An- 
gelic Doctor: A thing is called perfect to 
which nothing is wanting. Perfectum est id 
cut nihil deest. — Three kinds of perfection are 
to be distinguished. The first consists in the 
object being so constituted in its own being, 
that nothing is wanting to it, according to its 
nature. Thus man has this perfection, when 
he possesses a soul endowed with all its facul- 
ties and a body endowed with all its senses 
and all its members. — The second perfection 
gives to the object all that can be added to its 
substance so that nothing may be wanting to 
it of the bounty of nature. Thus a man has 
this perfection when he possesses all the quali- 
ties of soul and body that he can naturally 
have. — The third perfection consists in this 
that the object attains its proper end in order 
to find therein every good that its condition 
can exact. Thus a watch is perfect when it 
reaches its end, which is to keep time exactly, 
and a man is perfect when he attains his last 
end, which is God, the sovereign Good. We 
shall treat of this third perfection relatively 
to man, because it is his moral perfection to- 
wards which he must tend to find happiness ; 
it is nothing else but the perfection of his virtue 
and the perfection of his beatitude. 

Every being is then perfect when it attains 
its proper end, because the end of a being, 
once reached, gives it its final perfection. 
Now, it is through charity that man reaches 



94 

God, his last end, according to these words ot 
St. John: (1) " He that ahideth in charity 
abideth in God and God in him/' Conse- 
quently the perfection of the Christian life is 
especially in Charity. 

But an object may be termed perfect in two 
ways: first, in an absolute manner, consider- 
ing the perfection of the thing in what be- 
longs to its very substance. Secondly, an ob- 
ject is said to be perfect under such or such 
an aspect, when it is the perfection in the 
accidents of the object, that is, in all that is 
overadded to its substance, that is considered. 
It is thus, for example, that when a body is 
perfect as to its substance, and perfectly white, 
two distinct and very different perfections are 
found therein. The first perfection is the sub- 
stantial and principal perfection of the object, 
the second is its accidental or secondary per- 
fection. 

Now the Christian life consists substantially 
in charity, according to St. John: "He who 
loveth not, remaineth in death." (2) Whence 
it follows that the perfection of the Christian 
life, in its absolute idea, is to be considered 
according to charity. It is afterwards to be 
considered, in a secondary manner and by way 
of complement, as to the other virtues that a 
perfect man should possess. (5) 

II. — Let us insist on the practical conse- 
quences flowing from these principles. First, 

(1) I John, iv, 16. (2) I John, v. 

(3) 2a, 2se, q. 184, a. 1. 



95 

religious perfection is according to charity; 
let us remember that charity is a virtue by 
which we love God above all things, because 
He is our sovereign Good and our neighbor as 
ourselves for the love of God. Charity has 
then one sole motive, God only, and a double 
object, God and our neighbor. We must, con- 
sequently, be careful, w r hen considering charity 
and its perfection, neither to forget either of 
these two objects, nor to lose sight of its sole 
end, which must be God alone. 

You enter religion for the purpose of acquir- 
ing there the perfection of the Christian life; 
there you bind yourself by your state to tend 
towards this perfection, which is principally 
perfection as to charity. Be, therefore, mind- 
ful of your double obligation, namely, of 
ceaselessly aiming not only at the perfection 
of the love of God, but also at that of the love 
of your neighbor. The exterior and in some 
way material practice in reference to each of 
these may be different according to the diver- 
sity of the institutes and of their special 
works; but it is towards what is perfect in 
this double relation that religious persons are 
bound ever to tend. It is to make clear the 
road that they must follow that we are about 
to set forth at an adequate length all this 
great matter of charity, the perfection of which 
is the obligatory term of their efforts. 

On the other hand, religious perfection de- 
pends also upon the other virtues, secondarily^ 
it is true, but necessarily also in order that 



96 

nothing may be wanting to it. Therefore, in 
the same way, we ought to enter here upon the 
consideration of all Christian virtues, but as 
this subject is so vast and as it would cause us 
to lose sight of the explanation of the "The 
Catechism of Vows," we refer our readers to 
the ascetic writers, by whom it has been fully 
treated. 

Section II. — The Primary Object of Charity 
or Divine Love. 

§ I. In what divine love consists. (1) 

1st. In general, love is nothing else than 
complacency in good, or rather to speak more 
clearly, it is the movement of the heart attach- 
ing itself to an object that appears to it to be 
good. To love a thing, therefore, is to take com- 
placency in that thing, that is to say, it is to at- 
tach oneself to it because it is found to be good. 

To love some one, is also to wish him well, 
because in the love of friendship, there is not 
only attachment to the person of the friend, 
but moreover and by a necessary consequence, 
benevolence in his regard as to another self. 

There are two clear ideas characterizing 
divine love, which is a love of friendship: to 
love God is to attach oneself to Him because 
one finds Him to be good, and it is to wish 
Him well. 

2ndly. Four different shades may be distin- 
guished in the general idea of divine love: 
love, dilection, charity and friendship. 

(1) 2a, 2se, qusest. 26, art. 1 and 3.— 2a, 29e, q. 23, a. 1. 



97 

Love is properly what we have just defined. 

Dilection adds the idea of election, diligere, that 
is ex diversis eligere, to choose among many : con- 
sequently dilection is found only in the rea- 
sonable appetite, wherein is liberty. It also 
expresses the act of the love of charity rather 
than its habit. 

St. Denis tells us that with regard to God, 
the name love is more divine than that of 
dilection, because it expresses,, so to say, some- 
thing passive: and in fact in divine love, man 
is rather borne towards God by undergoing 
His attraction, than capable of going to Him 
by his reason and by his own choice, therefore 
is this love obtained principally by prayer. 

Charity indicates a certain perfection of love, 
insomuch as the object loved is esteemed as 
dear or cherished and of great price; thence 
comes the fact, that the name charity is given 
only to that love that places God above all 
things. 

Friendship expresses the habit of charity and 
also the mutual attachment binding two hearts 
to each other with a reciprocal benevolence. 
Now charity is a friendship that is formed be- 
tween God and man, according to these words of 
St. James : " Abraham was called the friend of 
God;" (1) and Our Lord Jesus Christ declares 
to His own that they are "His friends." (2) 

This mutual alliance between God and man 
is founded on the communication of His beati- 

(1) James, ii, 23. 

(2) I have called you friends. John, xv, 15. 

9 ' 



98 

tude by God to nian, here below by sanctifying 
grace which is its germ, and in Heaven by glory 
and the full enjoyment of Himself. And man 
makes God the return of which he is capable, 
by communicating and consecrating to God 
what he has, what he is and all that he can 
give to Him. 

It belongs to friendship to live with one's 
friend. Thus man enters into a continual rela- 
tion with God through charity and this is the 
exercise of his spiritual life on earth. But 
during the exile these relations of divine 
friendship are imperfect, because as St. Paul 
tells us, "we know only in part" (1) and be- 
cause the Divine Friend remains behind the 
Veil of Faith. And yet what great things 
have taken place between God and his saints! 
How stupendous a familiarity (2) says the 
author of the Imitation; and this is propor- 
tionally felt by every fervent and generous 
soul. In our true home, the relations of divine 
friendship shall be perfect, "when we shall see 
His Face," and "He shall be all in all." (3) 

§ II. — The seat of divine love is solely in the will 
and not in mail's lower appetite. (4) 

Two powers tending towards good in order 
to delight therein and to become attached 
thereto, exist in the human soul: they are 
named by philosophers the two appetites of 

(1) I Cor. xiii, 9. (2) Familiaritas stupenda nimis. 

(3) Apoc. xxii, 4; I Cor. xv, 28. 

(4) la, 2ae, q. 26, a. 1. 



99 

our nature ; one is the inferior appetite, the 
other the reasonable or superior appetite, also 
called the will. 

These two powers of the soul have each the 
faculty of loving; hut their love is as different 
as they themselves are; the one loves neces- 
sarily, the other voluntarily, both have good for 
their object, but each in its own way: for the 
object of the lower appetite is a good of which 
the senses can lay hold, whilst that of the rea- 
sonable appetite is a good held or known by the 
understanding under the common idea of good. 

Now, the object of charity is no sensible good, 
but the Divine Grood, God Himself, Who can- 
not be known by means of the senses, but only 
by man's intelligence. Whence it necessarily 
follows that the subject of charity, that is, the 
seat of the soul wherein it can reside, is not 
the inferior appetite, that experiences sensible 
impressions, but only the will. 

These are principles of great importance for 
the spiritual direction of souls, whether it be 
necessary to reassure them on the subject of 
the inclinations to sensible pleasure felt by 
them without any consent, or to enlighten 
them on the true nature of charity. 

But what are then these sweet emotions felt 
in the exercise of devout practices ? Are not 
these tears of devotion and other sensible im- 
pressions holy love? We have given the 
answer to this question when speaking of sen- 
sible devotion. (1) 

(1) Chap. I, Art. Ill, Sec. III. 



100 



Section III. — The Perfection of Divine Love. 
§ I. — Can man love God perfectly? (1) 

The perfection of charity can be understood 
in two ways: the first in relation to the object 
to be loved; the second in relation to the ane 
who loves. 

1st. Charity is perfect, relatively to the 
object to be loved, when the thing is loved 
as much as it is lovable. Now, God is as 
worthy of love as he is Good ; and as His Good- 
ness is infinite it follows that He is infinitely 
amiable. But no creature is capable of lov- 
ing Him in an infinite manner, since all created 
virtue has its limit. In this regard, there- 
fore, the charity of no creature can be perfect; 
the only perfect love here is that wherewith 
God loves Himself as much as He is worthy of 
being loved. 

But one resource is left to the loving soul in 
its powerlessness, that of humbling itself at 
the sight of a goodness that merits infinitely 
more love than she is capable of giving; and 
since God, nevertheless, loves Himself as much 
as He is lovable, it will rejoice thereat, unit- 
ing the little it can offer to the immense love 
He bears Himself. 

2ndly. Charity will be perfect relatively to 
the one who loves God, if he loves Him as 
much as he is capable of loving, as will be 
explained. 

(1) 2a, 2se, q. 27, a. 3. 



101 



§ II. — Three perfections of Divine Love. (1) 

Man may love God with his whole being and 
as much as he is capable of doing in three dif- 
ferent ways. 

The first consists in so loving God that the 
heart should entirely and always be actually 
uplifted towards Him, and this perfection will 
be that of our true home ; it is not attainable 
in this life, wherein human infirmity permits 
not to be always actually thinking of God, 
nor 'to tend incessantly towards Him by the 
movement of love. 

This truth may be re-called, if needs be, to 
certain ambitious and indiscreet souls who 
desire what is impossible. 

A second manner of loving God perfectly 
consists in this that a person places his whole 
heart in God habitually, so that he thinks of 
nothing and wishes for nothing contrary to 
the love that he owes to God, and that he thus 
puts away from his affection everything that 
could destroy in him charity, namely, all mor- 
tal sin. This perfection, which is of precept, 
exists in all those who possess charity and are 
in the state of grace with God. Venial sin is 
not contrary to it, since this does not destroy 
the habit of charity. 

There is a third way of loving God perfectly 
that occupies a middle place between the 
other two : it is that man should make it his 
whole aim to be in mind and heart entirely 

(1) 2a, 2ao, q. 24, a. 8, and q. 1, 84, a. 2. 

9* 



102 

taken up with God and things divine, leaving 
aside, everything else in so far as the weakness 
and the necessities of the present life allow. 
This perfection of charity, therefore, disen- 
gages itself here below, as far as possible, from 
even lawful things, which by occupying the 
soul, prevents its actual movement towards 
God; it strives to exclude from man's affection 
even the least obstacle which would hinder 
the total direction of his heart towards the 
Divine Good. 

To this third kind of perfection of charity 
the evangelical counsels relate as a means to 
reach it. It may doubtless be found in a per- 
son living in the world, and generous souls 
should be urged to it ; but the religious in his 
state, possesses the proper aids to obtain it 
and to make constant progress therein. His 
state itself puts him under the obligation of 
tending towards it. 

§ III. — The Perfection of Divine Love considered 

in its act. 

Kelatively to its perfection the act of charity 
may be considered in two ways : either accord- 
ing to its nature or according to its degree. 

It is perfect in its nature when it proceeds 
entirely from the sole motive of charity, with- 
out admixture of any other motive. This is 
also termed the act of pure love, whereby we 
love God exclusively for Himself. Though 
this charity be perfect, it can always increase 



103 

in intensity during the present life, so that its 
acts may ever be of a higher perfection. 

The act of charity will be imperfect in its 
nature if God is loved for any other good than 
Himself, as His benefits or His rewards. These 
inferior motives do not suffice, by themselves, 
to produce the act of perfect charity ; but they 
dispose our hearts to it: so that, through their 
consideration, we easily arrive at loving God 
for His goodness as they manifest it to us : 
the very chastisement with which He threatens 
us or which He does inflict, can dispose us to 
the act of charity, when, in order to escape 
His justice, we take refuge in the bosom of His 
Mercy. (1) 

The act of charity is perfect as to its degree, 
when, without being perfectly pure in its 
nature, it yet makes us prefer God to all other 
good, and thus practically love Him above all 
things. The necessary mark and the proof of 
this charity is the keeping of the command- 
ments, at least as far as the avoidance of mor- 
tal sin according to these words of Our Lord: 
" If you love Me keep My commandments. " (2) 

The act of Charity is imperfect as to its degree 
and insufficient for salvation, when something 
is practically loved more than God or as much 
as He is. 

Perfect charity as to its nature is that called 
by theology affective summa, supreme on the 
side of affection ; perfect charity in degree is 

(1) 2a, 2£e, q. 27, a. 3. (2) John, xiv. 



104 

that called appreciative summa, supreme as to 
appreciation. 

In order that the act of charity may justify 
outside of the sacrament of penance, a man 
fallen into mortal sin, it is essential that with 
the desire for the sacrament, his charity should 
be perfect both as to its degree and as to its 
nature. Still, this is a consoling truth: for if 
it sometimes happens to human frailty to fall, 
a prompt means is at hand, thanks to the 
Divine Goodness, of recovering God's friend- 
ship, whilst waiting for an opportunity to 
receive the sacrament, and this act of perfect 
charity is not so difficult as many persons think, 
especially for the truly Christian soul, who by 
ardent prayer begs this grace of God. 

Some men have taught that divine love, in 
order to be pure, must tend towards God con- 
sidered as the sovereign Good in Himself, with- 
out any relation to ourselves : so that, say they., 
he who loves God for his own welfare, has only 
an interested love, which is not pure. These 
men have not understood what it is to love God : 
in fact since the very object of love is goodness 
or that which is good, and since our hearts can 
become attached only to what we have recog- 
nized as good for us, does it not manifestly follow, 
that to love God is essentially to take com- 
placency in Him and find our good in Him? 
rf What is it to love God gratuitously?" ex- 
claims St. Augustine "It is to love Him for 
Himself and for nothing else." (1) And accord- 

(1) Quid est gratuitum ? Ipse propter se, et non propter 
aliud. 



105 

ing to St. Alphonsus Liguori, "The desire of 
possessing God is the proper act of charity, and 
even the most perfect of all, since the posses- 
sion of God" is charity consummated. (1) 

§ IV. — Exposition of the great Precept of 
charity. (2) 

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy 
whole heart, and with thy whole mind, and 
with thy whole soul, and with thy whole 
strength. (3) This is the greatest and first 
commandment/' (4) 

The Angel of the School speaks here with 
admirable fullness and precision, in order to 
show in practice the triple perfection of charity 
just considered; and the religious must remark 
that the great commandment applies to him as 
to its third perfection. 

Divine love is a movement of the will, as we 
have said, and it is the will that is here desig- 
nated by the word heart: for as the corporal 
organ, the heart, is the principle of all the 
movements of the animal life, so the will, — 
especially as to its tendency towards its last end 
which is its proper object, — is the principle of 
all the movements of the soul and of the spi- 
ritual life. 

We must well observe and remember that the 
word heart, when speaking of divine love, is a 

(1) Desiderium possidendi Deum est actus proprius cha- 
ritatis, imo omnium perfectissimus; quia possessio Dei est 
charitas consummata. 

(2) 2a, 2ae, q. 44, a. 5. 

(3) Deuter. vi, 5. (4) Matth. xxii, 38. 



106 

metaphorical expression used only to express 
theivill and its affections; it is never a question 
of the inferior appetite nor of its sensible emo- 
tions. 

This is why the great precept of charity is 
above all addressed to the will since this is the 
principle of all the movements of the soul. 
And in fact, as soon as God is Master of the 
Will, he is Master of the whole man, whence 
He Himself says to every one of us: "My son, 
give me thy heart" (1) that is, thy will. 

But man has three other principles of his 
acts which are placed under the command and 
the impulse of the will: the first. is the under- 
standing, here expressed by the word mind, 
mens ; the second is the inferior and sensitive 
appetite, rendered by the word soul, anima, 
because it is,, in fact, frequently used in Scrip- 
ture to signify the animal life; the third is the 
motive power which, through our members, 
executes exterior actions, and this force of ex- 
ecution is rendered by the words, power, virtue, 
strength, for titudo, or virtus, or vires. 

The great precept of charity commands us 
therefore: 1st, to direct to God our whole in- 
tention and all the movements of our will: 
which is really to love Him with our whole heart ; 
and this embraces the universality of our inte- 
rior and free affections; 

2nd. Totally to subject to God our under- 
standing and our reason : which is really to love 
Him ivith our whole mind; therein is contained 

(1) Proverbs, xxii, 26. 



101 

the homage of faith and of all that relates to 
our thoughts, appreciations and judgments ; 

3rd. To regulate our inferior appetite accord- 
ing to God : which is to love Him luith oar whole 
soul ; this is our duty in regard to sensibility, 
memory and imagination; let us remark the 
justness of the word reguletur ; the will must 
hold the curb according to the rule of right 
reason, to regulate the inferior appetite and 
its passions, as far as depends upon it ; 

4th. Finally, to watch that all our exterior 
actions should be the faithful execution of 
God's will, which is to love Him with all our 
strength, or with all our virtue or all our powers. 
Herein is contained that totality that embraces 
the works of God's service whether commanded 
by Him or to be done simply at His invitation 
and counsel. 

See how entire perfection is contained in the 
great precept of charity! 

But as St. Thomas (1) still says, in Heaven 
alone shall it be perfectly accomplished; and 
here below, whilst we are on the way, its ac- 
complishment is ever imperfect : for to accom- 
plish the precept perfectly would be to attain 
the end proposed by Him Who imposed it. 
Yet we still accomplish it, though imperfectly, 
when without attaining the legislator's end we 
do not turn aside from the order leading there- 
unto. Thus when the general of an army com- 

(1) 2a, 2se, q. 44, a. 6. This text supplies a refutation of 
the Jansenists, and negatives their accusations against 
Catholic doctors of theology on this subject of charity. 



108 

mands his soldiers to make an attack upon the 
enemy, they perfectly fulfil the order given who 
combat in such a manner as to really conquer, 
which is the end proposed by the general. But 
those who though combatting, do not attain 
victory, nevertheless also fulfil, although imper- 
fectly, the order given, so long as they do 
nothing against military discipline. 

The same may be said of the fulfilment of 
the great precept. It is doubtless God's inten- 
tion, when imposing it upon man on earth, 
that he should be totally united to Him. This 
will take place in Heaven, when, according to 
the Apostle's expression: "All things will be 
so subjected to Him that He will be all in 
all." (1) Yet, it is not imposed uselessly upon 
those still on the way, though none among 
them can now attain its perfection: for St. 
Augustine tells us: "'None run as they should, 
if ignorant of the end towards which they are 
to run; and how shall they know what is that 
end if it be not shown to them by any pre- 
cept." (2) 

§ V. — On a certain totality relating to Divine Love. 

Although nothing be wanting in the exposi- 
tion just given to thoroughly define the perfec- 
tion of divine love, it may, however, still be 
considered under an aspect capable of casting a 

(1) I Cor. xv. 

(2) Non enim recte curritur, si quo currendum est nes- 
ciatur. Quomodo autem sciretur, si nullis praeeeptis osten- 
deretur ? 



109 

new light upon it. In order to be perfect and 
to be lacking in nothing, charity must embrace 
a certain totality or universality , extending to 
everything relating to God or belonging to 
God. 

And what a vast field for the exercise of 
Divine Love does not this open to our eyes! 
And who should spring forward with more 
ardor in this career, than those in the state of 
perfection? To love God perfectly and totally, 
He must be loved not only in Himself, essence 
of Goodness, three Divine persons, and every 
one of the infinite attributes of the Divine 
Being, but also in all His Divine operations in 
the universe. The Incarnate God, Jesus Christ 
Our Lord, His Life, His Mysteries, His Name, 
His Glory, His Mother, His Saints, etc., are to 
be loved; so also all that is done by His Provi- 
dence, whether in the natural or the superna- 
tural order, especially in us and over us ; finally, 
God must be loved in all His creatures, in men 
especially, His children, Whom He calls our 
neighbor, and in whose behalf, by a special at- 
tention, He has imposed upon us a second com- 
mandment ivliich He declares to be like unto the 
first (1) 

Section IV. — The Effects of Divine Love. 

The effects of Divine Love are of two sorts: 
some it produces in the interior of the soul^ 
the others are manifested by it in exterior 
actions. 

(1) Matthew, xxii. 
10 



110 



§ I. — The Interior effects of Divine Love. (1) 

1st. Its most immediate effect, when in a 
soul, is to produce therein holy affections, just as 
it belongs to fire to produce heat. But we 
have already shown that these affections are 
properly those of the will, which being free can 
produce them at all times, even in the absence of 
sensible affections. Let us add that their inten- 
sity, to be judged rightly, is not to be compared 
with the movements of natural and human love, 
as for example with maternal love, because the 
love of God being of an entirely different order, 
its affection can be true and even more intense, 
without having the same sensible vehemence. 

2ndly. Divine Love causes Joy: for joy pro- 
ceeds from love, either on account of the en- 
joyment of the good that is loved, or at the 
sight of a friend's enjoyment of the good that 
belongs to him. 

The principal joy of charity is that rejoicing 
at the Divine Good, or at the happiness that 
God possesses in Himself. And this joy in us 
is incompatible with sadness, just as the good 
at which it rejoices can have no admixture of 
evil. This is why the Apostle tells us: " Rejoice 
in the Lord always/' (2) and this in fact can 
always be done, no matter what evil may beset 
us in this life. Thousands and thousands of 
examples of this are given us by the Saints. 

Another joy of charity is that rejoicing in 
the Divine Good according to our participa- 

(1) 2a, 2se, q. 28, 29. (2) Philip, iv. 



Ill 

tion thereof. For the just man, even in this 
world, shares in this good, for St. John tells 
us: " He that abideth in charity, abideth in 
God and God in Him." (1) And the source of 
this joy is such that nothing can take it away 
from him. Sadness may however be mixed 
with this second joy of charity, on account of 
the obstacles here below preventing us or those 
whom we love as ourselves from participating 
in the Divine Good; these obstacles are sins, 
spiritual infirmities, the perils of life and the 
delay of the perfect possession in Heaven. 

3dly. Divine Love causes peace. Peace is 
defined by St. Augustine as the tranquillity of 
order. Now, order within us is often in dan- 
ger of being troubled, either by the inclina- 
tions of the flesh combatting against the spirit, 
or by those of the will, inclining towards 
divers objects that it cannot reach simulta- 
neously. Peace then consists in making all 
these tendencies agree and repose in order. 
This is an effect produced by charity: for by 
loving God above all things, it gives to the 
soul a means of referring all to Him and thus 
causing all its powers to tend to the one and 
same end. 

4th. Divine Love causes union with God, and 
this in two ways; the first is by the affection 
of the heart; and love itself is formally this 
union and bond, since it consists precisely in 
attachment to God. The second union, which 
is the effect of the first, comes forth from the 

(1)1 John, iv. 



112 

real drawing nearer of friends, because love 
causes us to seek the presence of tho object 
loved, as a good which is pleasing and belong- 
ing to us. Thus he who truly loves God omits 
nothing capable of making Him be present to 
him in every possible way: by communication 
in prayer, by holy Communion and assiduity 
in visiting Him in His Sacrament, by recollec- 
tion and the exercise of the presence of God, 
finally by the frequent desire of being with 
Him perfectly as soon as possible in His King- 
dom. 

5th. Divine Love even causes a mutual 'pene- 
tration of God and the sold, according to the 
Beloved Disciple: u He that abideth in charity, 
abideth in God and God in him." (1) And 
this admirable effect of charity is thus ex- 
plained by St. Thomas. 

Mutual penetration takes places both as to 
the mind and the will. For: 1st, God dwells 
in the mind of the one who loves Him, inso- 
much as his thoughts are full of His God; and 
he dwells in the Divine mind, insomuch, that 
not content with a superficial knowledge of 
God, so to say, he penetrates the interior, and 
strives to attain by meditation as far as he is 
capable, even to the Divine thoughts, as it is 
written of the Holv Ghost, who because He is 
infinite Love, "Searcheth all things, even the 
deep things of God." (2) 2d, God dwells in 
the will which loves Him, because He is in 
its affections, whether it rejoices in Him on 

(1) I Jotm, iv. (1) I Cor. ii. 



113 

account of the Goods by Him possessed, or 
desires itself to possess Him. or strives to pro- 
cure Him the glory it wishes Him. And the 
loving will dwells in God's, for the reason that 
it shows itself inviolably united to this ami- 
able Will by the complete conformitv of its 
affections, its desires, its projects, its deter- 
minations and of all its acts. 

^ II. — The exterior effects of divine L 

1st. Lave brings forth works. 

Charity is a love of friendship whose inte- 
rior movement is to wish good to the loved 
one. Whence it follows that its nature is too 
liberal and it needs no stimulation in order to 
act. "If a man/' says the Sacred Canticle, 
"should give all the substance of his house 
for love, he shall despise it as nothing." (1) 

Charity is a friendship between God and 
man, that is, it creates not only a mutual 
inclination of hearts between them, but also 
a mutual benevolence and an ardent deep 
desire of making a reciprocal communication 
of their s;oods. This is whv works are neces- 
sary on both sides to found, to strengthen and 
to prove this friendship. Consider how the 
Divine Friend has shown to you the realitv 
of His love. Count, if you can. its proofs in 
the order of nature and of grace. Foresee in 
thought all that He still wills to do for you 
in the order of slorv. But after having fullv 
recognized in heart and mind God's part in 

(1) Cant. viii. 
10* 



114 



His friendship, consider also that which you, 
the other friend, should in simple justice offer 
in return by giving Him all that you have and 
all that you are. 

Which are the works in which charity merits 
more? Are they the most laborious and the 
most difficult ? St. Thomas' answer (1) is that 
a work may be laborious and difficult in two 
ways; one on account of the greatness of the 
act, the other through the fault of the one 
performing it.. In the former case the labor 
increases the merit; but it belongs to love to 
diminish the labor without decreasing the 
merit of the work. In the second case what- 
ever is done without a ready will is found 
laborious and difficult; the pain then, instead 
of augmenting the merit of the work, has the 
effect of lessening it; but it belongs to love to 
remove or to lighten the labor. This double 
lesson is worthy of meditation and its appli- 
cation is easy and frequent. 

2. Divine Love produces zeal. (2) 

What is zeal? It is properly the effort made 
by him who loves, to repulse and to destroy 
every obstacle contrary to his love. 

In general, the more strongly a soul tends 
towards an object, the more does it strive to 
move aside the obstacles that impede it. But 
it is of love, above all, that this is true, which 
as it grows, repulses with more energy all that 
is contrary to it, namely, all that fetters it in 
the pursuit or enjoyment of the good that it 

(1) la, 2se, q. 114, a. 4. (2) 2a, 2a3, q. 28, a. 4. 



115 

loves, all that is opposed to the good of its 
friend. If zeal does not succeed in doing this, 
it suffers and laments. The exercise of zeal 
for souls is at the same time that of zeal for 
the glory of God: for God's great glory con- 
sists in being known and loved by His reason- 
able creatures, and the great practice of charity 
towards our neighbor is to make him know his 
supreme Good and to help him to secure its 
eternal enjoyment. 

Section V. — The Second Object of Charity or 
Love of our Neighbor. 

§ I. The motive of charity towards our neighbor. 

(i) 

1st. Since the reason of our love of our 
neighbor is the very love we owe to God, it 
follows therefrom that charity embraces also 
the love of our neighbor. 

We are, in fact, obliged to love that which 
in our neighbor comes from God, namely the 
gifts of nature and grace with which He has 
endowed him, and to love our neighbor that 
he may himself be in God and God's, by grace 
in this life and by glory in the next. Whence, 
it is manifest, that the act by which we love 
God and our neighbor is the same act of 
charity, according to kind; and this the 
Apostle Saint John teaches: "And this com- 
mandment we have from God, that he who 
loveth God, love also his brother." (2) 

(1) 2a, 23e, q. 25, a. 1. (2) I John, iv, 21. 



116 

Love of the neighbor not having God as its 
motive, would by that fact alone be useless to 
salvation; and it would become culpable if it 
rested on the neighbor as on its principal end, 
or to the detriment of the love of God. 

Such is the great principle of fraternal 
charity. How important for Christians, for 
religious especially, to comprehend it thor- 
oughly ! And how frequently must we return 
to it, since self-love makes us so often forget 
it! 

2d. St. Thomas proposes a question on this 
subject, which seems strange at first sight; 
but it calls forth an answer that contains sev- 
eral most useful lessons. (1) 

Is it more meritorious to love God than to 
love our neighbor? 

I answer, he tells us, that if each love be 
considered separately, divine love is, without 
doubt, the more meritorious; for reward is 
due to it for its own sake, since the supreme 
and final recompense will be the enjoyment of 
God towards Whom the movement of that love 
tends. 

But if we consider divine love according as 
a person makes effort to its exclusive exercise, 
and the love of th€ neighbor, according as a 
person makes effort to love him for God, then 
the love of the neighbor involves the love of 
God, whilst the love of God does not contain 
the love of the neighbor. Whence we have 
the comparison between the perfect love of 

(1) 2a, 2a3, q. 27, a. 8. 



117 

God which extends to the neighbor, with the 
imperfect love of God, because as the holy 
Apostle tells us, "God has given this com- 
mandment, that he who loves God should also 
love his brother;" and in this sense the love 
of our neighbor has the pre-eminence. 

Thence three practical conclusions spring 
forth : first, that he deceives himself, who be- 
lieves that he loves God more and merits more 
when he withdraws from the exercises of 
charity to his neighbor, contrary to his voca- 
tion and his state, to apply himself more at 
ease to exercises of devotion. Secondly, never- 
theless, that it is only from the love of God 
that acts of love of our neighbor receive their 
merit: whence comes the necessity, as St. 
Ignatius so forcibly expresses it, "Of assuring 
ourselves before acting, whether the love we ex- 
perience for our neighbor really springs from the 
love of God, so that God may manifestly appear 
in our reason for loving our neighbor." (1) The 
third lesson is that the love of our neighbor 
has one essential condition in order that it 
may remain full of the love of God to be 
steeped frequently in the special exercises of 
Divine Love, which are the spiritual exercises. 

(1) Prima regula est, ut amor ille qui me movet, descen- 
dat desursura ex amore Dei Domini nostri, ita ut sentiam 
primum in me hunc esse propter Deum, et in causo relu- 
ceat Deus. Exer. Spirit, reg. pro eleemosynis. 



118 



§ II. — Exposition of the Second Precept of Charity . 

(1) 

"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 
(2) The words of this precept themselves in- 
dicate the reason of this love due to our neigh- 
bor, and the manner in which he should be 
loved. 

1st. The reason of the love is found in the 
word neighbor, proxirnus: this is why we must- 
love all men with the love of charity, because 
they are very near to us, being like us, natural 
images of God, like us children of God, and 
capable, as well as ourselves, of receiving that 
glory to which we are together to be trans- 
formed forever in the bosom of God. And 
Scripture employs sometimes the word neighbor, 
now that of brother, and again that of friend, 
to express the same affinity. 

2ndly. The manner of loving our neighbor 
is expressed by the words: as thyself. The 
precept does not tell us to love our neighbor 
equally to ourselves, but as ourselves, and this 
in three ways: first, as to the motive, we must 
love our neighbor for God, since it is thus 
that we are bound to love ourselves; and thus 
the love we bear him shall be holy. Secondly, 
as to the rule which does not permit us to yield 
to the evil desires of others, but only to the 
good ones, just as we should yield to our own 
desires only in what is upright and good, and 
thence our love of our neighbor will be just. 

(1) 2a, 2se, q.44, a. 7. (2) Matthew, xxii. 



119 

Thirdly, as to the end, that is, we must not love 
our brethren for our own interest, but in wish- 
ing them good, and hence the love of our 
neighbor shall be true, for to love our neighbor 
for one's own profit or pleasure, is not really 
to love him, but ourselves. 

§ III. — Perfect love of our neighbor. (1) 

There are two kinds of perfection with re- 
gard to our charity towards our neighbor. 

The first, without which charity does not 
even exist, requires us to remove from our 
affection all which would destroy the habit of 
this virtue in ourselves through mortal sin. 

The second rises much higher and depends 
on three things: its extension, its intensity 
and its effect or exercise. 

1st. Charity towards our neighbor will be 
perfect in extension, if we love not only our 
relations and friends, but also those who are 
unknown and strangers, and lastly, even our 
enemies: for, says St. Augustine, r 'this is the 
part of God's perfect children. " (2) 

As much as the perfection of this charity 
that embraces all men without exception, is 
worthy of the holy ambition of religious, just 
as many are the efforts it requires on account 
of its difficulties. The principal obstacle is 
not the failings of others or the wrongs done 
us by them, but it is what we ourselves lay in 
the way, by forgetting that our neighbor is to 

(1) 2a, 2ae, q. 184, a. 2. 

(2) Hoc est perfectorum filiorum Dei. 



120 

be loved for God and not for what pleases ns in 
him. 

2nd. Charity towards our neighbor will be 
perfect in intensity, if, when the occasion comes 
to test our love for him, we are disposed not 
to recoil before any sacrifice, and it is thus 
that for the good of our brethren, not only 
shall we despise all temporal goods, but be 
even ready to endure labor, pain, suffering and 
even death. 

3rd. Charity towards our neighbor will be 
perfect in its effect or exercise, if not only all 
our temporal goods, but also all our spiritual 
ones are employed for our neighbor's advan- 
tage, and lastly, if we devote and spend our- 
selves in his service, as was done by the great 
Apostle. (1) 

This is fraternal charity such as it is in all 
those who consecrate their life and works to 
the welfare of their neighbor; and this per- 
fection is proper to a great number of religious 
institutes, w T herein it becomes the duty and 
the singular merit of every one of their mem- 
bers. 

Section VI. — The Increase of Charity in our 

Souls. 

§1. Upon whom does this increase depend ? (2) 

1st. Charity is a virtue which can have only 
God for its author: for it is a supernatural 

(1) But I most gladly will spend and be spent myself for 
your souls. II Cor. xii, 15. 

(2) 2a, 2ae, q. 23, a. 2, and q. 24, a. 2 and 3. 



121 

habit intended to perfect the human will, ren- 
dering it capable of producing acts of super- 
natural love, and of producing these with an 
ever greater facility and promptitude. Charity 
in us is, moreover, a participation of the infi- 
nite charity of God Himself; so that it belongs 
exclusively to the Holy Ghost to create it and 
pour it forth in our hearts. (1) Thence it is 
we call God the life of our soul in the super- 
natural order: not because He is the formal 
life of our soul, but because the Holy Ghost 
infuses charity therein, which is this formal 
life, as the soul is the life of the body. It is 
manifest, finally, that since charity has an 
infinite effect, insomuch as it has the power 
of justifying the sinner, of uniting him to 
God and of meriting for him eternal beatitude, 
that an infinite virtue is required to give it 
birth in our souls. 

Therefore, just as the acquisition of charity 
is nowise in man's power, so neither as regards 
its measure or its increase, can it depend either 
on natural capacity or human virtue. It be- 
longs to the Holy Ghost to augment as well as 
to produce it in the* soul, according to what is 
written: "The Spirit breatheth where he 
will;" (2) and again, " Dividing to every one 
according as he will." (3) 

(1) The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by 
the Holy Ghost, who is given to us. Romans, v, 5. 

(2) John, iii, 8. 

(3) But all these things one and the same Spirit worketh, 
dividing to every one according as he will. I Cor. xii, 11. 

11 



122 

2nd. It is, however, true, that God demands 
our preparation and efforts in order to give us 
the first infusion or an increase of charity, and 
this is the meaning of these words of Our 
Lord: "He delivered to his servants his goods, 
. ... to every one according to his proper 
ability/' (1) But even this preparation and 
these efforts are forestalled by the Holy Ghost, 
as Faith teaches, who excites our will more or 
less according to His good pleasure: so that it 
is always He, according to the Apostle's ex- 
pression, "Who hath made us worthy to be 
partakers of the lot of the Saints." (2) 

3d. We must conclude therefrom, first, that 
the means is the same whether to increase 
charity in us and consequently perfection, or 
to acquire and preserve it, that is: we must 
address ourselves to God by prayer; secondly, 
that we must also do our share, with the aid 
of grace, by removing obstacles and by co-ope- 
rating with the action of the Holy Ghost. 
Would to God our co-operation were always 
what it might and should be ! "There are few 
souls" says St. Ignatius, "perfectly faithful in 
appreciating the gifts they receive, and who 
reach the degree of charity and perfection to 
which God desired to* raise them." 

§ II. — What is the increase of Charity ? 

1st. Charity increases in our soul in that it 
becomes more intense in order to produce more 
fervent acts by the will; and when God aug- 

(1) Matthew, xxv, 14, 15. (2) Coloss. i, 12. 



123 

merits it in us, He makes us participate to a 
greater degree in resemblance to the Holy- 
Ghost who is Charity, uncreated and infinite. 

2nd. Charity can increase in a soul until the 
end of the present life. In fact, the reason 
why we are called travellers is because we must 
travel towards God, who is the last term of 
our beatitude. And in this journey, we ad- 
vance the more as we approach God the more, 
not, as St. Augustine tells us, by the steps of 
the body, but by the affections of the soul. 
And it is charity that causes us to approach 
God in this manner, by more and more attach ■ 
ing us to Him. It then belongs to charity to 
have the power of ever increasing in this life; 
otherwise we should stop on our journey. 
Therefore St. Paul calls charity a road: Cf And 
I show unto you yet a more excellent way. "(I) 

A touching reflection may be made here: if 
envy could find a place in Heaven, the Saints 
would certainly envy us this : their charity is no 
longer susceptible of growth as ours is here 
below; although perfect in its degree, it might 
have been so in a superior degree by the aug- 
mentation they might have merited on earth. 

3rd. Charity can increase indefinitely in this 
life. For it is impossible to assign to it any 
limit, whether as regards its form, which is a 
participation of infinite charity, or as to its 
cause, who is God Himself, Whose virtue has no 
bounds, or as to the soul receiving it since 
the increase of charity is accompanied by 

(1) I Cor. xii. 



124 

increased aptitude for further augmentation. 
Charity, whilst becoming thus ever more per- 
fect, tends to one end and term; but this end 
is not in the present life, but only in the life to 
come. Then exclaims St. Augustine: "How- 
ever long we have lived, however far we have 
walked and advanced, none can say: It is 
enough for me. To say that is to remain on 
the way and not to know how to arrive. There 
where you have said: "It is enough, there you 
have stopped." (1) 

§ III. Does Charity increase in us at every act of 
it that ice perform? (2) 

1st. The Angelic Doctor gives a negative 
answer, which he makes clear with this com- 
parison. 

The spiritual increase of charity may be 
compared, in some manner, with what takes 
place corporally in the animal or the plant. 
Here the increase is not continual: nature 
operates for some time by disposing to aug- 
mentation, without causing any actual growth; 
then comes the moment in which it produces 
the effect for which it had made preparation 
and then it really augments the plant or ani- 
mal. 

It is thus with charity; every act of it that 
we perform does not always actually increase 

( 1 ) Quantumcumque vixerimus, aut profecerimus, nemo 
dicat: Sufficit mini; qni enim hocdixerit, remansit in via, 
non novit pervenire. Ubi dixerit: Sufficit, ibi haesit. 

(2) 2a, 2ce, q. 24, a. 6. 



125 

it, but each disposes it to increase by render- 
ing the will more prompt to the performance of 
another act ; and the aptitude thus increasing, 
the per&on by this comes to some act of love 
more intense, by which he strives to advance 
in charity and it is then actually augmented. 

The reason which proves that charity does 
not increase by every one of its acts, is that an 
effect cannot exceed the efficacy of its cause ; 
and it sometimes happens that an act of charity 
is made with tepidity and remissness ; it is 
manifest that this act, far from conducting to 
a greater charity, rather disposes the soul to a 
lesser one. 

2ndly. Two remarks may be made here : 
first, that this doctrine of St. Thomas in no 
wise contradicts the definition of the Council 
of Trent, that man in a state of grace merits 
through the good works that he performs an increase 
of grace, (1) for the holy Doctor textually pro- 
fesses this truth by thus explaining it: "As 
every act of charity merits eternal life, not as 
obtainable at once, but in its proper time with 
perseverance ; so it also merits augmentation 
of charity, not at the very moment of its 
occurrence, but when the person strives to 
obtain it." The second remark is that these 
acts that are performed with tepidity and 
remissness, these tepid prayers and commu- 
nions multiplied by certain persons instead of 

(1) Si quis dixerit hominern justificatum, bonis 

operibus quae ab eo fiunt . . . non vere mereri augmentum 
gratiae .... anathema sit. Sess. VI, can. 32. 

11* 



126 

increasing charity in them, have as their only 
result to dispose to a successive decrease of it. 
This is a serious lesson for souls cowardly 
in God's service. 

§ IV. — Directions to be followed in order to pro- 
gress in charity. (1) 

As everything has a beginning, a middle, and 
an end, so there are three degrees to charity: 
that which is beginning, that which progresses, 
and that which has reached its perfection. 

St. Augustine, comparing charity to a human 
body, warns us that when it is born in a soul 
it must be nourished in order to live; then 
it must be strengthened until it has reached 
its perfect development. (2) According to 
these three principal and successive degrees, 
man must especially apply himself to differ- 
ent cares: the first is that of avoiding sin, 
the second, exercising himself in virtue, 
and the third, striving for union with God. 

In fact, the soul newly born to the life of 
grace must make its principal care be the avoid- 
ance of sin and the striving against the concu- 
piscences that tend to move it contrary to 
charity. This is the task of beginners, in whom 
charity must be nourished and sustained that 
it may not become corrupted and lost. 

(1) 2a, 2se, q. 24, a. 9. 

(2) Charitas, cum fuerit nata, nutritur; cum fuerit nu- 
trita, roboratur; cum fuerit roborata, perficitur ; cum autem 
ad perfectionem venerit, dicit: Cupio dissolvi et esse cum 
Christo. 



127 

These nourishments and these means are, 
among others, the exercise of the fear of God, 
temperance, mortification, the diligent use of 
examination of conscience and recourse to the 
sacraments. 

Then comes a second state of charity in 
which the principal care should be to advance 
in well-doing, and to strengthen charity by 
the acquisition of virtues: this is the task of 
those called projicientes, that is, of those who 
advance by the growth of charity in them. 
Meditation and imitation of the virtues of 
Jesus Christ and His Saints are their great and 
efficacious means. 

There is, finally, a third state of charity, 
that of a certain perfection already acquired, 
in which the soul, when it is conscious of hav- 
ing reached it, can and should apply itself 
principally to the exercises of union w T ith God : 
for it belongs to the perfect to enjoy God, and, 
as St. Paul did, "to sigh for their release that 
they may be with Jesus Christ/' (1) 

It is thus that in a bodily movement,, there 
is a first degree which consists in getting away 
from the starting point; then a second degree 
by which we approach the term ; and finally a 
third degree in which rest is found at the term 
itself. 

Those in whom charity begins, have doubt- 
less the intention of advancing, but their prin- 
cipal study should be resistance to the sins 

(1) Having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. 
Philipp. i, 23. 



128 



whose aggression molests them most. After- 
wards feeling the necessity of these combats 
less, they may with more assurance apply them- 
selves to their advancement. In this way they 
will act as did the Israelites who rebuilt the 
City of Jerusalem, in the time of Esdras: (1) 
with one hand they will raise the edifice of 
virtues, but with the other they will still hold 
the sword in case of the attack by the enemy. 
The perfect, on their side, never give up the 
work of their spiritual progress, since charity 
here below is ever imperfect, and always needs 
to increase, (2) and they even cannot entirely 
neglect the enemies that often cause their 
attacks to be felt and that are ever to be feared. 
Their principal study, nevertheless, is applica- 
tion to union with God; this they do, not by 
a lazy quietude nor to the neglect of their 
duties, but by the perfect intention of love 
when they have anything to do, by the exer- 
cise of the presence of God, by the contempla- 
tion of His perfections and of His works, by 
the care of loving Him in all His creatures and 
all His creatures in Him. And although the 
others seek this union with God, yet these 
always feel more solicitude both in putting sin 
aside and in practicing and advancing in vir- 
tue. 

It can be seen that these three degrees of the 
spiritual life in charity are nothing else than 



(1 ) Esdras, iv. 



(j) ftsciras, iv. 

(2) Perfectio vise non est perfectio simpliciter, et ideo 
semper babet quo erescat. 2a, 2se, q. 24 y a. 8, ad 3. 



129 

what is also called the purgative, the illumina- 
tive and the lenitive way; and the Angelic 
Doctor shows most usefully the manner in 
which these three ways must be understood 
in practice. 

Section VII. — The Decrease and the loss of 

Charity. (1) 

1st. St. Thomas teaches that the habit of 
charity in a soul can be diminished directly 
neither by the cessation of acts nor by venial 
sin. 

Not by the cessation of acts, since charity is 
not a natural habit of man, but the work of 
God in him. 

Nor by venial sin, since that sin is only an 
irregularity touching the means, not attacking 
charity which refers to the end. Morever, he 
who sins in a secondary matter does not deserve 
a principal punishment, and God does not turn 
more from man than man turns from God by 
his sin: which would happen, if, for having 
failed as to the means, we were to suffer loss in 
charity which unites to the end. 

Hence it is to be concluded that charity can- 
not be directly diminished by man, if con- 
sidered as to its substance, the degree of union 
established between God and the soul, and the 
corresponding merit for eternal life. 

But indirectly a person can weaken charity in 
himself by preparing its ruin both by venial 
sin and by the cessation of acts. Venial sins 

(1) 2a, 2ae, q. 24, a. 10. 



130 

prepare its ruin by disposing to mortal sin by 
which it is destroyed. The cessation of acts 
of charity is also a preparation for its loss, in 
so far, that the habit of charity becomes less 
prompt to produce its acts; and then a vicious 
habit can easily introduce itself into the soul, 
and prevail therein by some mortal sin. 

St. Gregory the Great cites, on this subject, 
the sad example of his aunt Gordianne, who 
had vowed her virginity to God, and who, by 
daily decrease, at last failed in her sworn 
pledge, and was lost. (1) 

It is clear, that properly to understand the 
meaning of all of this passage of St. Thomas, 
the substance of charity must be distinguished 
from its ardor in promptitude to produce acts. 
This ardor is but too much exposed to grow 
cold and to decrease by the commission of 
venial sins and by laxity. 

II. — In Heaven, wherein God is seen face to 
face and in His essence, the infinite Goodness 
and Beauty by manifesting themselves to the 
Blessed so ravish their affection, that they can 
no longer lose charity. But on earth, where 
we see God only through the veil of faith, we 
are always exposed to the misfortune of losing 
charity through sin. 

One single mortal sin suffices to destroy it in 
man's heart: so that he who possessed through 

(1) Coepit paulatim a calore amoris intimi per quotidiana 
decrementa tepescere; unde factum est ut postmodum ob- 
lita dominici timoris, oblita pudoris, oblita reverential, ob- 
lita consecrationis, conductorem agrorum suorum matri- 
monio duxerit. 



18.1 

it the life of grace and the merit of life eter- 
nal, becomes in one moment worthy of eternal 
death. 

In the case of acquired virtues, a single con- 
trary act does not destroy the virtuous habit, 
for that a succession of repeated acts is needed, 
which weaken it little by little, and finally 
by effacing and corrupting it entirely. But 
charity, being an infused virtue, depends upon 
the action of God who has poured it forth and 
preserves it in the soul ; now this action of God 
may be compared to the manner in which the 
sun illumines the atmosphere; just as light 
would then cease to exist in the atmosphere, 
as soon as an obstacle would arise to the sun's 
action, so charity ceases to exist in the soul of 
the just man, as soon as an obstacle intercepts 
the divine influence. Every mortal sin is mani- 
festly this obstacle, since as by it man prefers 
his sin to God's friendship; that friendship 
which requires that the friends should have 
the same will, is broken, and at that moment 
the habit of charity is lost and immediately 
destroyed. 

It should, besides, he remarked that man 
may lose charity in two ways: one direct and 
the other indirect. He loses it directly by his 
formal contempt of it, which happens when he 
sins through malice and then it is more diffi- 
cult to regain. He loses it indirectly when he 
sins through surprise or when carried away by 
passion. It is in this way that St. Peter lost 
charity, but he recovered it promptly through 



132 

penance. Whence we see that the soul suffers 
much more harm from a sin of malice than from 
one of frailty. 

III. On the Sins of religious. (1) 
' St. Thomas asks the following question : 
When offending God in a like matter does a 
religious sin more grievously than a secular? 
And behold his answer: If the religious sins 
through contempt, against his vows or by giv- 
ing scandal to another, his sin is more griev- 
ous than that of a secular; but it is the con- 
trary if it is only through ignorance or in- 
firmity that he sins. 

In fact, when sinning through malice and 
contempt, his sin is more grievous, since he 
shows more ingratitude towards the Divine 
Bounty which has granted to him the signal 
favor of raising him to the state of perfection. 
And the Lord complains of this by His Pro- 
phet: ''What is the meaning that my beloved 
hath wrought much wickedness in my house." 

It is clear that if the religious dare sin 
against his vows his sin is greater, since it 
contains a double malice, as has been already 
shown. 

If he give scandal by his sin, the religious 
may be and generally is more guilty, because 
his life attracts the attention of a greater 
number of persons. 

But when the religious fails neither through 
eontempt nor by malice, but only through weak- 

(1) 2a, 2se, q. 186, a. 10. (2) Jerem. xi, 15. 



133 

ness or ignorance, and without scandal or vio- 
lation of his vow, he sins less than a secular, 
in this sense, that his sin is less injurious, be- 
cause, if venial, it is as it were absorbed by 
the multitude of good works that he per- 
forms; and if mortal the religious gets rid 
of it more easily. The facility has two causes : 

The first is that his intention is habitually 
upright towards God; therefore if it suffers 
a momentary interruption, he has no trouble 
to make it resume its direction and to repair 
the injury that has befallen it. This is Origen's 
thought in explanation of the words of the 
Psalm: "When the just shall fall he shall 
not be bruised, for the Lord putteth his hand 
under him." (1) The unjust, says Origen, 
when he has sinned has no repentance, and 
knows not how to get himself clear from his 
sin ; whilst the just knows how to correct him- 
self without delay: like him who having said 
of His Divine Master : I know not that man, had 
need only of one look from the Lord to weep 
bitterly; like him also who, having seen a 
woman from the roof-top and allowed his heart 
to be carried away, was soon able to say: I have 
sinned, my God, and done iniquity in Thy Pres- 
ence. 

The second reason is that the religious who 
falls finds in his brethren a help to arise, accord- 
ing to these words of the Wise Man: "If one 
fall, he shall be supported by the other: Woe 

(1) Psalm xxxvi, 24. 
12 



134 

to him that is alone, for when he falleth, he 
hath none to lift him up !" (1) 

The just sin with difficulty through con- 
tempt, and this is why, in case they do fall, 
they rise easily. But when they reach the 
point of sinning through contempt, they be- 
come very wicked and the most incorrigible 
of all. Thence those terrible words of St. 
Augustine : " Since I have begun to serve God, 
I have found by experience, that as there are 
scarcely any Christians better than those who 
do good in religious houses, so there are no 
worse than those who abandon themselves to 
evil therein. " 

Would it not be well, when speaking of the 
sins of religious, to set forth the Angelical 
Doctor's doctrine in its two parts? 

Section VIII. — Charity in its relation to the 
other virtues. 

Charity is termed and is in fact the form, the 
mother, the foundation, the bond and the end of 
all the other virtues: whence we see how it is 
also by excellence their queen, and in how 
many ways it is essential to religious perfec- 
tion. (2) 

I. Charity is the form of the other virtues, not 
if they be considered as to their own species, 
since every virtue has it special form, arising 
from the object upon which it is exercised; 
but in this sense that charity must impress its 
own form upon them, without which no virtue 

(1) Eccl. iv, 10. (2) 2a, 2se, q. 23, a. 7. 



135 

would merit the name of true virtue, taking 
that word in its pure and absolute accepta- 
tion. (1) 

In fact all virtue is essentially a habit hav- 
ing good as its object; and good exists princi- 
pally in its end: for means are good only inso- 
much as they refer to the end. This is why, 
as there are two sorts of ends, one near and 
the other our last, so there are two kinds of 
goods, one near or special, the other final, 
supreme and universal. The final good for 
man, that which should embrace all others, 
is the possession of God, according to these 
words of the Psalmist: "It is good for me to 
stick close to my God;" (2) and man can 
attain this Good only through charity. 

As to the near, secondary and particular 
good of man, it can be of two kinds; one which 
is a true good, in that it serves as a means to 
attain the supreme good and the last end; the 
other which is only apparent and not real, 
because it turns away from the final good. 
Whence it evidently follows that no virtue 
is true unless directed by charity to the 
Supreme good and of the last end of man. 

If we call virtue that limiting itself to 
some special good, without being referred to 
the final good by charity, in that case, the 
virtue may, it is true, have some reality; never- 
theless, should this special good be only appa- 
rent and not real, then will the virtue be also 

( 1 ) Simpliciter vera virtus, sine charitate, esse non potest . 

(2) Psalm lxxvii, 28. 



136 

only apparent. "Thus," says St. Augustine: 
u We cannot call true virtues neither the pru- 
dence of the avaricious, which knows the secret 
of becoming richer, nor their justice which 
respects the property of others only through 
fear of punishment, nor their temperance which 
represses in them the sumptuous tastes of sen- 
suality, nor finally, their strength which, 
according to the saying of the poet, makes 
them fly poverty across sea, rocks and flames." 
(1) It this particular good is in fact, real, 
as the care of relieving the unfortunate, filial 
piety, fidelity to one's word, there then shall 
be some reality in the virtue, but it will 
remain imperfectly true so long as it does not 
refer to the final and perfect good. Whence 
we must still conclude that in the absolute 
signification of the word virtue, there is no 
true virtue without charity. 

Would to God that all men understood this 
fundamental truth! Would to God, that reli- 
gious themselves made a better application of 
it to every one of their actions ! Where charity 
is wanting, every virtue, if virtue it is, is only 
a grovelling virtue which never rises from earth; 
whilst with charity and through charity, the 
most humble virtue has the power of ascend- 
ing even into Heaven and of meriting the 
Supreme Good. 

II. cc Charity is the mother of all virtues," 
because its proper object and the end to which 

(1) Per mare pauperiem fugiunt, per saxa, per ignes. 
Horat., lib. 1, epist. 1. 



137 

it aspires being the possession of God Himself,* 
its desire of attaining Him ever more perfectly, 
causes it to conceive acts of the other virtues in 
the interest of its own end ; it brings them forth 
when it commands the will to produce them. 
Thence is it that the Apostle attributes them 
all to it. " Charity is patient/' he tells us, 
"it is kind: charity envieth not, it is not 
puffed up, etc." (1) 

This is why that the more charity increases 
in a soul, the more fruitful it becomes in acts 
of all the virtues, putting them into exercise 
and exacting labor and activity from them. 
On the contrary, if virtues produce little, it 
is that charity is weak and languid; and a 
manifest proof of its total absence is the idle- 
ness of the other virtues. 

III. Charity is the foundation of virtues. 

These virtues are said to be the foundation 
of all the others, namely : humility, faith and 
charity. We shall see in what sense this name 
of foundation suits them each. 

As to humility and faith, this is St. Thomas' 
exposition. (2) 

Just as the well-ordered collection of man's 
virtues is compared to an edifice, so the first 
requisite to this spiritual construction is com- 
pared to the foundation, by which a material 
edifice must be begun. Now, the virtues of a 
person are much less his own work than God's 
to Whom it belongs to implant them in us and 
to make them increase. Whence it follows 

(1) I Cor. xiii, 4, 5. (2) 2a, 2ae, q. 161, a. 5. 

12* 



138 

that, in what affects the virtues, a thing may. 
be called the first or foundation in two differ- 
ant ways: one direct and the other indirect. 

1st. The thing which is to be indirectly the 
first or foundation with regard to the virtues, 
is that which is to remove the obstacles to the 
divine action within us. 

It is thus that humility occupies the first 
place, by chasing pride which God resists (1) 
and by putting down the swellings of that 
vice, it presents a soul submissive and gener- 
ously open to divine grace. (2) It is, then, in 
this sense and in this manner that humility is 
the foundation of the spiritual edifice of all 
the virtues, according to these words of St. 
Augustine : " You wish to elevate a great struc- 
ture, think first of the foundation of humility ; 
and the higher the building is to be the deeper 
must the foundation be dug." 

2ndly. The thing which should be directly the 
first or foundation in reference to the virtues, 
is that by which we are to approach towards 
God, the Lord of virtues. And it is by faith 
that man comes near to God, as taught by the 
Apostle: "For he that cometh to God, must 
believe that He is." (3) And it is in this 
sense that faith is the foundation of all the 
virtues, in even a more noble manner than hu- 
mility. 

(1) For God resisteth the proud. I Peter, v 7 5. 

(2) Weigh well these strong words: Proebet hominem 
subditura et patulum divinae gratiae. 

(3) Credere enira oportet accedentem ad Deum quia est. 
Heb, XI, 6. 



139 

ordly. But St. Paul also calls charity a founda- 
tion. "You are/' he tells the Christians, 
"rooted and founded in charity/' (1) because 
like to a foundation and a root, charity, in 
fact sustains and nourishes all the other virtues. 
It is their living and life-giving foundation, as 
the root is this to all the branches of the tree ; 
which is even a more elevated manner of being 
a foundation than that of humility and faith. 
Whence we have those beautiful words of St. 
Gregory, Pope: "All that God commands to 
men He makes it rest on charity alone: for just 
as the different branches of a tree come solely 
from the root, so that divers virtues are all the 
product of charity; and the branch of good 
works retains none of its verdure if it does 
not remain united to the root of charity." (2) 

IV. Charity is the bond of the other virtues. (3) 
Therefore, after having told us that charity is 
to be possessed above all, the Apostle imme- 
diately adds that it is the bond of perfec- 
tion. (4) 

In fact, as the other virtues are necessary to 
the completion of perfection, as has been else- 
where explained, (5) so it belongs to charity 

(1) Ephes. iii, 17. 

(2) Quidquid prsecipitur, in sola charitate solidatur: ut 
enim multi arboris rami ex una radice prodeunt, sic multae 
virtutes ex una charitate generantur; nee habet aliquid 
viriditatis ramus boni operis, si non manet in radice chari- 
tatis. 

(3) 2a, 2ae, q. 184, a. 1, and q. 65, a. 3. 

(4) But above all these things have charity, which is the 
bond of perfection. Coloss. iii, 14. 

(5) As above— Ch. II, art. Ill, sec. I. 



140 

not only to produce and to feed them, but also 
to bind them all together as a bunch in perfect 
unity. The reason of this is that charity is the 
principle of all the good works by which man 
must arrive at his last end ; and for this it is 
necessary that it should be accompanied by 
all the other virtues which produces the diverse 
kinds of good works. 

For this reason, in the just man the moral 
virtues have among themselves not only the 
connection which is according to prudence, but 
also that other connection which is according 
to charity. Kept together by this bond of 
charity, as strong as it is soft, all the virtues 
remain with it in the soul, and none can be 
missing so long as it itself is present ; and 
through it, moreover, all are in a harmo- 
nious unity, so that no act of one virtue can 
interfere with that of another. Such is per- 
fection or sanctity according to Christianity, 
and we know by the history of the canoniza- 
tion of Saints, that in order to declare authen- 
tically its existence in a Christian, the Catho- 
lic Church exacts the irrefragable proof that he 
possessed this union of all the virtues in 
charity, even to an heroic degree. 

V. — Charity is, finally, the end of all the 
other virtues, (1) because it keeps them under 
its orders, and its direction to make them ad- 
vance towards its end. All are its instruments 
and servants. Some it employs in removing 
the obstacles which would impede its union 

(1) 2a, 2se, q. 23, a. 8. 



141 

with God: such as strength, patience and ab- 
negation, with all the others derived therefrom, 
humility, temperance, mortification, modesty, 
etc. Others it employs more directly in exer- 
cising itself either towards God or the neighbor; 
as faith, hope, religion, justice, zeal, etc. 

But among all the virtues that it employs to 
tend towards its perfection, there are three 
that call for the special attention of religious: 
these are the three virtues consecrated by the 
vows of religion, poverty, chastity and obe- 
dience. We shall now consider more fully in 
the following article their relation to charity. 



ARTICLE IV. 

THE MEANS OF PERFECTION FOUND IN THE RELIGIOUS 

STATE. 

These means are of two kinds: some princi- 
pal, others secondary ; some most efficaciously 
used by charity for its own perfection; others 
giving their concourse to the first for the same 
end, and being also of great utility to the per- 
fection of the other virtues; it is clear that it 
is a question here of voids and of rules. 

Section I. — The Vows, the Principal means of 
Perfection. (1) 

I. The religious state is a discipline, that is, 
a school in which one learns, and a career in which 
one is exercised, to the end of acquiring the per- 
il) 2a, 2ae, q. 186, a. 3,4, 5, 6. 



142 

fection of charity. Now, for this four things 
are necessary. 

In the first place, it is necessary, that volun- 
tary poverty be practised in the religious state. 
I speak here of that poverty that consists in 
the effectual spoliation of temporal goods. 
For the perfection of charity exacts that man 
should totally disengage his affection from ter- 
restrial things, to be able to make it trend en- 
tirely towards God, according to what is said 
by St. Augustine: " Lord he loves Thee too 
little, who loves something with Thee, which 
he loves not for Thee:" (1) and again, " the 
food of charity is the spoil taken from cupidity ; 
charity is perfect when cupidity no longer re- 
mains." (2) But experience teaches that he 
who possesses temporal goods is much exposed 
to attach his heart to them, as is energetically 
expressed by the same St. Augustine: " Wealth 
clings much more to the heart when possessed, 
than when only desired. For whence comes it 
that the young man in the Gospel withdrew 
with sadness, if not because he possessed great 
wealth ? It is one thing not to desire to incor- 
porate what is outside of ourselves, and quite 
another to pluck out what is already within 
us. In the first case it is like a foreign body 
that is removed; in the second it is as if our 

(1) Minus te amat, qui tecum amat aliquid quod non 
propter te amat. 

(2) Nutrimentum charitatis est imminutio cupiditatis; 
perfectio, nulla cupiditas. 



143 

members were undergoing amputation/' (1) 
This is why evangelical poverty is the first foun- 
dation to be laid, when it is a question of acquir- 
ing the perfection of charity, Our Lord, Him- 
self having said : "If thou wilt be perfect, go, 
sell what thou hast, and give it to the poor." 

(2) 

In the second place the practice of conti- 
nence is necessary: first, because even were 
carnal pleasures lawful, they are a great ob- 
stacle to the perfect aim of man's affections 
towards God; and, next, because the same may 
also be said of the cares imposed by the gov- 
ernment and the temporal necessities of a 
family, as St. Paul tells us: "He that is with 
a wife is solicitous for the things of this world, 
and he is divided." (3) 

In the third place, obedience is above all 
necessary, according to Our Lord's counsel: 
" If you wish to be perfect . . . come, follow 
me." Now, what most calls forth our imita- 
tion in the life of Our Divine Model, is His 
obedience, as St. Paul remarks: "Becoming 
obedient unto death." (4) And in fact, let 
us recall the principle already laid down, that 
the religious state is an apprenticeship and a 
career having as its end the acquisition of per- 
fection. But all persons who are learning and 
who practice in order to become skilful/ have 

(1) Terrena diliguntur arctius adepta, quam concupita. 
.... Aliud est enim nolle incorporare quae desunt, aliud 
jam incorporata divellere. Ilia enim velut extranea repu- 
diantur, ista vero velut membra praescinduntur. 

(2) Matt. xix. (3) I Cor. vii, 33. (4) Philip, ii, 8. 



144 

need of some one to teach them and to direct 
them, as disciples under a master. This is 
why it is necessary for religious to be under 
the direction and the authority of some one 
in the whole government of their religious life, 
which is done by means of obedience: whence 
Canon law says, that " the life of a religious is a 
life of subjection and a school. " (1) 

In the fourth place, it is necessary that a 
person should impose on himself these three 
things under the obligation of a vow, in order 
to be by that means entirely given up, in a 
fixed and constant manner, to the perfection 
of charity, according to these words of St. 
Gregory: "To vow to the Lord all the goods 
of fortune, all those of the body, and all those 
of the mind, is the perfect sacrifice of the holo- 
caust." (2) Moreover, as the perfection of life 
consists in consecrating it entirely to the 
Divine worship, this perfection requires that 
we should effectually present to God all that 
we desire to consecrate to him.' But man can- 
not present to God his whole life in one act, 
since that life elapses successively; the only 
means to offer the whole effectually is by the 
obligation of the perpetual vow, by which the 
entire life is bound. 

II. The same St. Thomas thus sums up all 
that £he three vows of religion do for the per- 
fection of charity: (3") 

(1) Monachorum vita subjectionis habet verbum et dis- 
cipulatus. 

(2) Cum quis omne habet, omne quod sepit, omnipotenti 
Deo voverit, holocaustum est. 

(3) 2a, 2ae, q. 186, a. 7. 



145 

The religious state may be considered under 
three aspects : the first, as an exercise by which 
perfection is aimed at; the second, insomuch 
as it frees the human heart from exterior solici- 
tudes; the third, as a holocaust, wherein all is 
given to God without reserve. Under this three- 
fold aspect, the religious state furnishes fully 
what is required for the perfection of charity. 

1st. It removes the interior obstacles pre- 
venting a total trend of our affections towards 
God. These obstacles are three: cupidity for 
wealth is the first, and the vow of poverty re- 
moves it ; concupiscence of the flesh is the 
second, and is excluded by the vow of chastity ; 
the disorder of the will is the third, and the 
vow of obedience makes it disappear, by plac- 
ing our will under the direction of God Him- 
self, commanding by the superior. 

2ndly. It removes the exterior obstacles: 
for the solicitude of the world disquiets the 
soul chiefly in three things, one relating to 
the care and expenditure of temporal goods, 
another, to the government of a family, and the 
third to the disposition of one's own acts ; these 
three sources of inquietude are taken away by 
the three vows of religion, according to the 
desire formed by St. Paul for perfect Christians: 
"I would have you to be without solicitude. " 

(i) 

3d. Under the third aspect, the religious 
state does more then remove obstacles; it is 

(1) I Cor. vii. 
13 



146 

already the exercise of perfect charity: for it 
is a holocaust, as St. Gregory has said, to 
sacrifice to God all that we possess. Now, man 
may possess three kinds of goods: wealth, 
which he sacrifices to God by voluntary pov- 
erty; the goods of the body, of which he de- 
prives himself for His love by the vow of con- 
tinence, and those of the soul which he offers 
Him totally by the vow of obedience, since he 
sacrifices his will by which he makes use of all 
the powers and habits of his soul. 

III. Two objections may here present them- 
selves to the mind: one against poverty, the 
other against religious obedience. 

This is the first: almsgiving is a work as 
agreeable to God and as sweet to the heart ! 
Well! this is excluded by voluntary poverty, 
and once I shall have despoiled myself of 
everything, this merit and consolation can 
no longer be mine. This is the pretext some- 
times used by the enemy of salvation, to turn 
away a tender soul from religious perfection. 

It must be said, answers St. Thomas, that 
the renunciation of temporal goods when com- 
pared with almsgiving, is a universal good 
compared with a particular good, and as the 
sacrifice of holocaust, in which the entire vic- 
tim is offered, compared with the other sacri- 
fices in which a part is reserved. (1) This is 
why St. Jerome, refuting the error of Vigil- 
antius, speaks in these terms: c 'It is a good 
thing to distribute one's goods to the poor suc- 

(1) 2a, 2se, q. 186, a. 3, ad 6m, a. 5, ad 5m, and a. 6, ad 3m. 



147 

cessively; but it is better still to give all at 
once to follow Jesus Christ, and after having 
cut off all terrestrial solicitude, to live poor 
with Jesus Christ/' Add still the sacrifice of 
the heart itself so full of abnegation and 
humility ; when a religious is reduced to say 
to the unfortunate, stretching out a hand to 
him: " Alas, I have no longer anything to 
give!" 

The objection against religious obedience is 
this: spontaneous services are those most 
agreeable to God; but once the vow of obe- 
dience has been made, spontaneity gives place 
to necessity; and the same may be said of the 
two other vows, which take away thenceforth 
the merit of spontaneous privation. 

It must be said, still answers St. Thomas, 
that the necessity of constraint renders the 
act involuntary and consequently without 
merit. But such is not the necessity ensuing 
from the vow of obedience: for man even then 
remains entirely master of his will, and acts 
because he wishes to obey, although the thing 
commanded, if considered in itself, might per- 
haps otherwise be not according to his inclina- 
nation. And it is just because he has imposed 
upon himself for God's sake, the necessity of 
doing things not pleasing to him, that his 
actions are more agreeable to God, even when 
meaner than those he himself would have 
chosen: because man can give to God nothing 
greater than for His sake to subject his own 
will to that of another. 



148 



The same must be said of the necessity im- 
posed by the two other vows. 

For among the goods which can be renounced 
is his own liberty, which is the one most cher- 
ished by man. This is why the free withdrawal 
of one's power of thenceforth acting contrary 
to poverty and perfect chastity is the use of lib- 
erty which is most agreeable to God. Whence 
St. Augustine thus speaks to the religious: 
" Repent not of having bound yourself by 
vows; but rather rejoice no longer to be able 
to do what would have been allowed you to 
your detriment. Happy necessity which obliges 
us to do what is the better V 9 (1) 

Section II. — Secondary means of perfection — the 

Rules. 

The " Catechism of the Vows" indicates in 
a few words (2) what help the rules are to make 
the religious tend to perfection. But several 
useful explanations are still to be given on this 
subject. 

I. A rule, in Latin regula and in Greek canon, 
is an architectural instrument known by all. 
Indispensable for material constructions, the 
rule is no less so for the spiritual edifice of the 
virtues and perfection. 

The essential quality of a rule is to be straight : 
regula, according to St. Isidore, is as if we said 

(1) Non te vovisse poeniteat, imo gaude jam tibi non 
licere quod cum tuo detrimento licuisset. Felix necessitas 
quae in meliora compellit ! 

(2) Part 1st, ch. 2. 



149 

rectula, on account of the rectitude inherent in 
it; and Seneca the philosopher judiciously ob- 
serves "that it is outraging rectitude to act 
according to a rule that we have ourselves 
bent/' (1) beautiful maxim showing wherein 
lies supreme disorder, irremediable cause of all 
the others. The rule, says St. Gregory, suffers 
neither addition, nor curtailment; otherwise 
it loses its very property of rule, (2) in a word, 
if rectitude is wanting to the rale, it misleads 
the workman, it spoils the work, and it even 
compromises the solidity of the edifice. This 
is why when it is question of a rule of religious 
life the approbation of the Church is necessary, 
to certify that it is truly straight; and again 
this is why it is so important to an institute 
that its approved rule should not be tampered 
with, but that its rectitude should be lovingly 
respected by everybody. 

II. — The rule in the mason's hand makes 
him know if the wall he raises is even and 
perpendicular: in order that seeing a stone too 
far in he may push it forward, and seeing one 
projecting he may bring it back; this compari- 
son is made by St. Gregory (3) and it is appli- 
cable continually in the work of perfection. 
Rule comes from the word regere, because it is 

(1) Regulam si flectas, quidquid ex ilia rnutaveris, inju- 
ria est recti. 

(2) Regula nee addi sibi quidquam, nee demi sustinet; 
alioquin hoc ipsum quod regula est, amittit ac perdit- 

(3) Ut si lapis intus est, foras emittatur; si autem exte- 
rius prominet, interius revocetur. 

13* 



150 

destined to direct and to correct (1) ; these are 
its two essential functions: it directs in the 
moral order by showing what is to be either 
done or avoided ; it corrects by recalling to 
rectitude whatever strays from it and by reprov- 
ing and punishing ivrong. 

III. By the Bute of an institute is meant the 
collection of all the prescriptions concerning 
it: and here two kinds of elements are to be 
distinguished, some more essential and of a 
first order, the others complementary and of a 
second order. He, says St. Thomas, who pro- 
fesses the rule, or who rather promises to live 
according to the rule, does not engage himself by 
vow to keep all the particulars in the rule ; but 
he vows to live the regular life which consists es- 
sentially in keeping the three vows. For in a 
law some things are proposed not under the 
form of precept obliging under pain of sin, but 
by way of ordination or of direction obliging 
only to some penalty if not observed. How- 
ever, as the religious has promised to live ac- 
cording to the rule, that is, to strive to form 
his life upon it as upon a model presented to 
him, he would violate this engagement and sin 
even grievously, if he were to despise the rule 
in any point whatever; and this contempt 
exists when the transgression proceeds, pre- 
cisely from this — that the will refuses to sub- 
mit to the rule. But an infraction of some 
point of the rule through some other particu- 

(1) Regula a regendo, id est, dirigendo et corrigendo, 
quia vel rectum dirigit, vel distortum corrigit. 



151 

lar cause, such as anger, sloth, etc., is no sin of 
contempt; yet it is to be remarked that little 
by little these infractions engender contempt 
when they become frequent. (1) 

IV. We sometimes distinguish the Rule in the 
singular, and the Rules in the plural. 

The Eule, considered according to this dis- 
tinction, is exclusively the exposition of the 
most substantial points of the institute that 
have been presented for the approbation of the 
Church. Thus understood, the rule is what 
gives existence to a religious body, when it is 
approved and put into execution. 

But this rule, on account of its brevity, re- 
quires further developments according to its 
spirit : thence the rules of detail or constitutions, 
either those regarding the body of the insti- 
tute, or those to be observed personally by the 
members. 

These rules, as their very name expresses, 
must always verify the idea of rectitude, and 
this is why the authorization of the Church is 
necessary to the founders or heads of insti- 
tutes, to be able to make and to impose them. 
The Church even generally wishes still to ex- 
amine them and to add its formal approbation, 
the more to warrant their rectitude. 

The Holy See no longer uses the name Rule 
to designate the collected constitutions of any 
pious institute approved by it. That name is 
reserved for the ancient orders, under whose 
rule divers more recent congregations have 

(1) 2a, 2ae, q. 186, a. 9. 



152 

placed themselves: the Rule of St. Basil, the 
Rule of St. Benedict, of St. Augustine, of St. 
Francis, etc. 

V. Among the Rules or constitutions which 
relate personally to the members of an insti- 
tute, there are two sorts which it is important 
to distinguish : 

Some have for object the formation of each 
religious according to the spirit proper to the 
institute: these are the Rules of the interior life . 
Therein are laid down the principles from 
which every member is to draw a multitude of 
practical consequences, in order to tend to the 
positive perfection of his vows and to the per- 
fection of virtues according to his vocation. 
It is to be remarked that these rules rather 
prescribe a tendency, efforts and an ever grow- 
ing progress, than utter a command or a pro- 
hibition to particular acts. Thus, although it 
is the duty of all to endeavor to follow their 
direction, nevertheless, for the most part, they 
are not and even cannot be observed by all 
equally; but there are very different degrees 
for individuals, and every one practices them 
according to his own power, to the grace given 
him, to his actual fervor, and to the progress 
he has already made in perfection. 

The object of the other rules is discipline or 
the exterior part of common life: this is the 
reason why they are generally called common 
rules. They prescribe or forbid acts produced 
exteriorly; and their end is the establishment 
of the visible form of community life according 



153 

to the institute, and to protect domestic order. 
Therefore is their observance exacted from 
every one in particular and from all together: 
for it is by them that all must acquire a com- 
mon physiognomy and appear as the members 
of the same body ; it is by them that they recog- 
nize one another as brethren, and that a same 
family likeness shows them to be all the child- 
ren of a same mother. 

But, besides this general fruit, already so 
fitted to excite every one to a diligent observ- 
ance of the common rules, they still contain 
for him the fruit of personal sanctity, which 
assuredly deserves all his efforts. "My great 
mortification is life in common/' said a perfect 
religious, Blessed John Berchmans; and he 
thus pointed out one of the most fruitful sources 
of religious perfection, since it ceaselessly 
flows by a multitude of streams, and since the 
keeping of the rules is truly, as the Prophet 
tells us, " the legitimate and perpetual sacri- 
fice of every day." (1) 

VI. The exercise of the virtues according to the 
Rules. The Christian and religious virtues are 
common to all Christians and all* religious ; 
but the acts of these virtues must often differ 
according to the diversity of vocations, and it 
is most important, for the legitimate exercise 
of virtue, that attention should be paid to this 
difference, even when wishing to imitate the 
saints; otherwise illusions would be most easy; 

(1) Sacrificium Domino legitiuium, juge atque perpe- 
tuum. Ezech. xlvi. 



154 

so that what is praiseworthy in one would 
become reprehensible in another. Thus, for 
example, mortification, zeal, charity to the 
neighbor, silence and the other virtues are to 
be practiced differently according to insti- 
tutes and situations. This is why St. An- 
thony insisted upon the virtue of discretion as 
upon that whose function it is to regulate all 
the others. But how often would not our pri- 
vate discretion be at fault if reduced to its 
own lights? But this is the great advantage 
that the religious draws from his rules, they 
furnish him a sure direction as to the exercise 
of the virtues, and teach him how to practice 
them according to God's will and good plea- 
sure. 

VII. This might seem the proper place to 
examine the obligation of tending towards 
perfection by the practice of the rules; but 
this point is sufficiently explained by "The 
Catechism of the Vows/' (1) and can be found 
more amply treated in Bodriguez, (2) and F. 
Saint-Jure. (3) 

ARTICLE V. 

THE VOWS OF RELIGION ARE MADE ACCORDING TO THE 
RULE OR THE CONSTITUTIONS : DIVERS DEGREES OF 
RELIGIOUS PERFECTION. 

The vows of religion are made according to 
the special and proper rule of each institute: 

(1) Part 2d, chap. Ill, art. 2. 

(2) Christian Perfection, part 1st, 1st treatise, ch. 6. 

(3) The Religious Man, book I, ch. 3. 



155 

that is to say, that he who makes them should 
understand them and bind himself to observe 
them according to the sense given them by the 
constitutions of the religious body to which 
he is admitted. 

From this is evident the obligation devolv- 
ing on superiors of thoroughly instructing 
novices on this point, and of assuring them- 
selves that all the religious under them always 
retain an exact understanding of it. 

But there is another consequence which 
affects the present matter, it is that the more 
or less perfect manner in which the rule in- 
tends the three vows of religion to be practiced, 
gives rise to different degrees of religious per- 
fection itself. 

There is doubtless, a perfection common to all 
institutes and it is found in the common pro- 
fession of the evangelical counsels, by the 
three essential vows of religion. 

But there is also a perfection special to every 
institute, which is proposed in common to all 
the members belonging thereto. This perfec- 
tion depends upon the manner in which the rule 
requires the three evangelical counsels to be 
observed, it is more or less elevated according 
as the practice of the counsels imposed by the 
vows and rules is more or less perfect. 

There is, finally, a personal perfection which 
becomes peculiar to every religious according 
as he applies himself effectually to draw it 
from his own institute; and this individual 
perfection still presents a multitude of divers 



156 

degrees, depending both on the interior prin- 
ciple of grace and on the co-operatioil of every 
one with it. 

This personal perfection is the most worthy 
of consideration : first, because at bottom it is 
the very one that gives to the religious his true 
merit before God ; and also, because whilst 
calling such a person to an institute less per- 
fect in itself, God may still destine him to a 
greater interior perfection, and by means of 
special graces raise him, if he be faithful, to a 
higher degree of sanctity. 

Personal perfection has its growths and so to 
say its ages. For the perfection of the novice 
is one thing, that of the religious who ad- 
vances another, and still another that of the 
consummate religious. " Perfection is exacted 
from all/' says St. Bernard, (1) "but not a 
uniform perfection. If you begin, begin per- 
fectly; if you are in way of progress be so per- 
fectly, and if you have already attained some 
kind of perfection, measure yourself, and say 
with the Apostle: 'No, I have not yet reached 
the goal, but pursuing my course in the desire 
and hope of attaining it, forgetting the things 
that are behind, I stretch myself forward to 
those that are before.' " Charity causes those 

(1) Ab omnibus perfectio exigitur, licet non uniformis: 
si incipis, perfecte incipe; si jam in profectu es, hoc ipsum 
perfecte age; sin autem aliquid perfectionis attigisti, teip- 
sum in teipso metire et die cum Apostolo: non quod jam 
apprehenderim aut perfectus sim, sequor autem si quo 
modocomprehendam, quae retro sunt obliviscens, ad ea 
vero quae sunt priora extendens meipsum. De vita solitar. 



- 157 

who are really more advanced to redouble their 
ardor and hasten their speed. Charity is like 
the law of gravity of bodies which accelerates 
their movement and increases their swiftness 
the nearer they approach the centre of gravita- 
tion. 

ARTICLE VI. 

COMPARISON OF THE DIFFERENT STATES IN THE CHURCH 
CONSIDERED IN REFERENCE TO PERFECTION. 

It seems useful to present this comparison on 
ending the chapter on the State of Perfection, 
it is perfectly elucidated by the Angelical Doc- 
tor. (1) 

§1. 

The royal prophet compares the spouse, holy 
church, to a queen whose vesture is gold sur- 
rounded by a variety of colors. (2) This robe 
of gold is charity, and the variety of colors that 
enhance its splendor is the diversity of states, 
offices and degrees in the church. 

The states in which the members of the 
church are placed are distinguished according 
as the persons in them are bound to evangelical 
perfection in a more or less fixed manner. (3) 

The distinction among offices or functions is 
drawn from the fact that such or such a class 
of persons is deputed in the church to accom- 

(1) 2a, 2ae, q. 183, a. 2, et q. 184, a. 7 et 8. 

(2) Astitit regina a dextris tuis in vestitu deaurato, cir- 
cumdata varietate. Psalm xliv. 

(3) See above— Ch. II, art. 2, sec. 1. 

14 



158 

plish acts that are necessary to it, as for 
example, acts of ecclesiastical ministry. 

Finally, the degrees are different in the same 
state or office, according as some are more or 
less elevated than others, either by reason of 
their authority or their dignity and their right 
to honor. 

Bishops have the supreme rank, not only 
according to degree and office, but also as to 
perfection of state: for they are fixed in a 
position which irrevocably engages them in 
the keeping and the care of the flock of Jesus 
Christ, and this state is the state of perfec- 
tion, even superior to the religious state. 
The reason is this, that in order to lead others 
to perfection, it is necessary to be already per- 
fect oneself, whilst to be lead thither, the will 
to tending thereunto is all that is necessary: 
so that the bishop is in the state of acquired 
perfection, and the religious only in the state of 
perfection to be acquired. Therefore did Our 
Lord say to St.. Peter before confiding to him 
His sheep; " Simon, Son of John, lovest thou 
Me?" And it is only after a threefold affirma- 
tive answer that He added: " Feed my lambs, 
feed my sheep:" (1) but to the religious He is 
satisfied with saying: "If thou wilt be per- 
fect, go sell what thou hast .... and come 
follow me." (2) 

And why does not a bishop vow poverty and 
obedience like the religious? Because he is 
supposed no longer to need these two means 

(1) John, xxi, 15, 16, 17. (2) Matth. xix, 21. 



159 

which serve to acquire perfection, since he 
must already possess it through charity; and 
again, because once called to the episcopate, 
the practice of those vows is no longer com- 
patible with his office and his rank; for he is 
in a post in which he must command rather 
than obey ; and he must have wherewith to 
provide for even the temporal needs of the 
people of his diocese. But the perfection of 
his state imposes a more stringent obligation 
upon him than upon any other, of despoiling 
himself on occasions of pressing need for the 
relief of his flock. 

The state of simple priest is not, in itself, a 
state of perfection ; for the vow of continence 
does not give him all that is necessary to be 
in this state, although it does raise him above 
the common state; and besides, he is not as 
the bishop essentially and irrevocably bound 
to the guidance of the .flock of Jesus Christ. 
Therefore his state is called the state of secular 
priest, which compared with that of the reli- 
gious is as a lesser sacrifice compared with the 
holocaust. 

In relation to order, the priest whatever be 
his state, secular or regular, is deputed by the 
Church to perform most holy actions, especially 
in the adorable mysteries of the Eucharist. 
Thence his obligation to a sanctity or interior 
perfection which should surpass even that 
which God demands from the lay religious ; 
so that if the priest acts contrary to sanctity, 
he is more reprehensible than the simple re- 



160 

ligious, although the latter, on his side, finds 
in his state both means of sanctification and 
also obligations which the secular priest has 
not. 

On account of this greater sanctity exacted 
of the priest, St. Jerome said to the lay reli- 
gious of his time (and most of them were so 
then): '-'Live in the monastery so as to merit 
holy orders." (1) And in fact, how many 
religious in the state of perfection have found 
means of becoming more worthy of the priest- 
hood ! But having become regular priests, 
surely they lost none of the advantages given 
by their state, to be priests ever more perfect 
and more holy. 

The degree or the post wherein a priest is 
placed in the Church, whether lie be secular or 
regular, for instance, administering a parish, 
gives him certain powers not possessed by a 
simple regular priest; but this degree changes 
nothing in his state in reference to perfection; 
it only creates obligations and difficulties for 
him that require a more solid virtue and a 
greater interior sanctity. We have already 
seen as to the difficulties met by man in the 
performance of his duties, that a distinction 
must be made between the difficulties that di- 
minish the merit and those that increase it. (2) 

§n. 

We add here an incidental question that is 
connected with the preceding, and that will 

(1) Sic vive in monasterio ut clericus esse merearis. 
(1) See above — Ch. II, art. '2, sec. 2. 



161 

be somewhat interesting to examine and solve: 
Do the regulars belong to the hierarchy ? I answer 
that two kinds of hierarchy are to be distin- 
guished in Holy Church: the first is the hier- 
archy of divine lata, namely that established by 
Jesus Christ Himself; and the second is the 
hierarchy of ecclesiastical law , that is which has 
been added to the first by the Church. 

The hierarchy of divine law is composed of 
the Bishops^ priests and other inferior minis- 
ters: this is a point of Catholic faith defined 
by the Council of Trent. (1) It is evident that 
no difference is to be made in this hierarchy 
between a regular and a secular cleric. 

The hierarchy of ecclesiastical law is divided 
into two bodies: one is the general and princi- 
pal hierarchy , that presides over the government 
of the universal Church; the other is the special 
hierarchy af the regulars. 

The general and 'principal hierarchy was 
established to facilitate the good administra- 
tion of the whole Christian people. Thence in 
the episcopal order the degrees of patriarch, pri- 
mate ; metropolitan, and in the second order, 
those of archpriests, archdeacons, parish priests, 
curates, etc. These degrees have varied in the 
Church according to times, places and needs. 
The regulars are not excluded by their state 
from this general hierarchy; there have even 
been epochs during which it contained more 
regulars than seculars. 

(1) Sees. 23d, can. 6. 
14* 



162 

The special hierarchy of the regulars is only 
secondary and essentially dependent on the 
heads of the first, notably on its supreme 
Hierarchy the Roman Pontiff, Vicar of Jesus 
Christ. But it is a true hierarchy, consti- 
tuted with its proper degrees; it comprises 
abbots and other regular prelates of divers 
names, general, provincial and local supe- 
riors; and this hierarchy, as well as the other, 
reascends to the head of the Church who is 
strictly and peculiarly the Supreme Prelate of 
all regulars. 

The regular clergy comes after the secular 
clergy when it is question of the precedence of 
honor, unless they belong also to the principal 
hierarchy. Besides the humility of which they 
make profession by state, would be sufficient to 
impose this upon them as a duty. 

As to jurisdiction, not only regular but also 
ecclesiastical in the exterior forum, regular 
prelates, in exempted orders, possess it over 
their inferiors; whilst the sacerdotal functions 
of pastors do not give it to them over their 
parishes. 

Finally as to interior jurisdiction over the 
faithful in the sacrament of penance, secular 
priests, whoever they may be, possess it only 
in so far as it is communicated to them by the 
bishop in his diocese, either by ordinary com- 
mission in confiding to them a parish, or by 
extraordinary commissions in giving them the 
powers of hearing confessions. Exempted reg- 
ular priests, although receiving this jurisdic- 



163 

tion from the Pope through their superiors, 
nevertheless may not exercise it validly in any 
diocese except with the approbation of the 
Ordinary as was regulated by the Council of 
Trent. 

§ HI. 

A few words remain to he said about the 
works of the regular clergy in the Church. 
Outside of the general hierarchy this clergy is 
divided into two classes of priests. Some are 
solely employed, at least ordinarily, in the 
clerical functions directly relating to the di- 
vine worship: such are certain orders of regu- 
lar canons, and the contemplative religious 
orders of the Benedictines, Carthusians, Cis- 
tercians, etc. Others belong to institutes hav- 
ing also as an end to labor for the salvation of 
souls, as the Mendicant orders, and those prop- 
erly called orders of regular clerics. All these 
institutes provide the ministers of the Church 
charged with the ordinary care of the faithful, 
with co-operators and auxiliaries: this is the 
providential destination of that portion of the 
regular clergy; and the Sovereign Pontiff espe- 
cially looks upon it and employs it as his force 
of reserves, for the greater good of the entire 
Church. Every one has heard of the vision 
of Innocent III (1) in which St. Francis, at 
the time he was petitioning for the approba- 
tion of his Order, was shown to him support- 
ing the Lateran Church which seemed about 

(1) Brev. Rom., 4th October. 



164 

to tumble into ruins. Likewise in the prayer 
of St. Ignatius' office, the Church has all her 
priests to say: u O God, Who through the 
blessed Ignatius hast strengthened the mili- 
tant Church with a new enlistment ;" (1) 
whence we see that the regular clergy, al- 
though only an auxiliary in the sacred hier- 
archy, presents it, however, with an ordinary 
and constant help that is furnished by God to 
His Church, and that the Church itself desires 
to see put to use for its own greater advantage 
and for that of its children. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF VOWS OF RELIGION. 

In order to throw more light on this matter 
we will again consider some things that lie 
back of it. 

ARTICLE I. 

OF THE RELIGIOUS STATE IN GENERAL AND OF INSTI- 
TUTES IN PARTICULAR. 

According to Suarez, there are several nota- 
ble differences to be pointed out between the 
religious state and religious institutes. 

I. The religious state, if considered as to its 
substance, was instituted by Jesus Christ Him- 
self, so that it may be said to be of divine laic, 

(1) Deus, qui ad majorem tui nominis gloriam propa- 
gartdam novo per beatum Ignatium subsidio militantem 
Ecclesiam roborasti 



16 



;> 



and that the Church lias not power of abro- 
gating it. This, says Suarez, is a sentiment 
common to all Catholics who think correctly. 
St. Francis de Sales adds, that the religious 
state belongs to the ngte of sanctity of the Church, 
because this character is to be manifested ex- 
teriorly by the exercise of the evangelical vir- 
tues in their highest degree: which requires 
the existence of the state of perfection. 

II. But the common or cenobitical life led in 
the regular institutes is not essential to the 
religious state. A person may apply himself 
to perfection in private life, and if bound in a 
fixed and permanent manner to the practice of 
the three evangelical counsels, he may be con- 
sidered as a religious. Such were the ancient 
ascetics, the anchorites and the virgins and 
the widows consecrated to God. However, as 
w r e have already remarked, private life, can 
only with great difficulty give the means of 
practicing religious poverty and obedience as 
completely as can be done in community. 
Whence it is that the religious state is divided 
into the complete and the incomplete state of per- 
fection. 

According to the actual law of the Church, 
its express approbation is rigorously needed 
to constitute a true state of religion. There 
is no doubt that at least the practical approba- 
tion of the Church was always necessary for 
real admission into that state and in order 
that he who professed it should truly be a 
religious ; for the religious profession consists 



166 

in a special gift of his person made to God by 
the Christian, and in order to be valid this 
donation must be accepted; now, God does 
not accept it immediately by Himself, but 
through His Church which holds towards us 
His place on earth. 

Nevertheless it must be said that, in the first 
centuries of Christianity, this practical appro- 
bation of the Church was very often tacit and 
not expressed. As to the approbation of the 
Holy See it was only from the Lateran Council, 
under Innocent III and from that of Lyons 
under Gregory X that it was required even 
for the religious orders properly so-called. 

III. Formerly, stability in such an institute 
or under such a rule was not exacted for the reli- 
gious profession. Until the eleventh century, 
there was but one monastic order, or rather 
there was none, although there were several 
rules, but they were variable at the will of 
the superiors. To speak exactly, the religious 
state alone existed, without those precise dif- 
ferences which now constitute the diversity of 
institutes. There was then no obligation to 
attach oneself to a special community ; it was 
sufficient to manifest by some outward sign 
that one was altogether consecrated to God, 
and one thus belonged to the religious state, 
with the obligation of persevering therein, but 
without being bound to belong to a particular 
monastery or to be subject to any one rule, un- 
less by some formal engagement. It w r as St. 
Benedict who, to put an end to the frequent 



167 

and prejudicial passages from one monastery 
to another, established the celebrated sanction 
of stability, which his religious had to promise: 
a most salutary institution which soon becom- 
ing a rule universally consecrated by the au- 
thority of the Church, also became the princi- 
ple of the diversity of institutes. 

ARTICLE II. 

THE VARIETY OF RELIGIOUS INSTITUTES. 

Section I. — Causes and Ends of this Diversity. 

I. The diversity of religious institutes in 
the Church is not the effect of chance nor the 
fruit of the caprice of men. It has its first cause 
in the conduct of Divine Providence and in 
the interior operations of the Holy Ghost in 
the depths of souls. 

In destining to each man his place upon 
earthy God gave him qualities, aptitudes and 
tastes suitable to this destination : so that the 
diversity met with in characters, talents, in- 
clinations and even corporal strength and 
needs, contributes to determinate the differ- 
ent choices which fix some in one position 
of life, and others in another, as much for the 
common good of society as for the direction of 
everyone towards the final end of his creation, 
which is, eternal salvation. Now, with greater 
reason is this providential disposition of God 
shown in those whom He destines by a more 
special vocation to the state of evangelical per- 
fection. It is morally impossible that all apti- 



168 

tudes and all propensities should accommodate 
themselves to a single manner of living in that 
state. 

One will feel more facility and attraction 
for a life of contemplation, mortification and 
silence; another will find the occupations of 
an active life more suited to his nature, tastes 
and impulses of grace; finally, a third will 
see in the gifts received by him in a divided 
manner, indications of a vocation to a life of 
mixed contemplation and action ; and thus all 
will have the means of tending to perfection 
by the exercise of charity towards God and 
the neighbor, but under different forms and in 
divers measures. 

II. — Still further, God Who always has in 
view the good of His Church, knows how to 
obtain it by this same action of His Provi- 
dence and of His Holy Spirit in souls. As the 
needs of the faithful people are very various, 
one same and single institute could not em- 
brace them all together; but Divine Goodness 
has provided for this by the diversity of reli- 
gious bodies and destines them, every one doing 
its share and acting in its own way to procure 
for the Church some spiritual or temporal good, 
and to come to the help of its children in their 
evils of body and soul. Institutes have their 
vocation as well as individuals. Being mem- 
bers of the great body of the Church, they each 
receive, like the members of the human body, 
an end proper to themselves and a special des- 
tination, in which they are to concur to the 



169 

general welfare. Some more withdraw into 
solitude, pray for the Church and edify it by 
good example; (1) others in closer communica- 
tion with men, labor for the salvation of souls 
or give themselves up to other works of mercy. 

Section II. — Three Principal Kinds of Reli- 
gious Institutes. 

I. It is seen from what has been said that all 
religious institutes can be ranged in three 
principal classes, according as the contempla- 
tive, the active or the mixed life is led therein. 

To the contemplative life belong the purely 
monastic orders, because their special and direct 
end is to devote themselves to prayer and to 
the exercises of Divine worship. Therein work 
itself is subordinate and auxiliary to this prin- 
cipal end: such are the Benedictines, Carthu- 
sians, Poor Clares, Carmelites, etc. 

The active life is proper to those numerous 
institutes which give themselves to the care of 
the poor or the sick, or to the rearing and edu- 
cation of children. We may rank in this class, 
the orders that devote themselves to the ran- 
som of captives and the military orders em- 
ployed in the defence of Christianity against 
the infidels. 

The mixed life is that wherein contempla- 
tion and action are united and go, so to say, 
hand in hand ; then the exercises of the con- 

(1) Beautiful pages on this subject may be read in the 
Introduction of M. de Montalembert's u Monks of the 
West." 

15 



no 

templative life give to the religious the lights 
and the graces of which he has need for him- 
self and his neighbor; whilst by action and 
above all by the ministry of the priesthood, he 
strives to communicate to others the goods 
that he has received; and thus closely uniting 
the work of his own perfection to that of the 
sanctification of his neighbor he imitates the 
life of the Apostles: who said of themselves 
"But we will give ourselves continually to 
prayer and to the ministry of the word."(l) 
In this class may be numbered the orders of 
St. Dominic, St. Francis, St. Ignatius, etc. 

A serious remark to be made to the religious 
who are in the active life, is this — they them- 
selves need to borrow from the contemplative 
life a suitable measure of spiritual exercises; 
without which they shall be in danger, in the 
midst of exterior occupations, of forgetting what 
they owe to their own perfection or even to the 
personal affair of their own salvation, accord- 
ing to the advice Our Lord gives them : "Martha, 
Martha, thou art careful and art troubled 
about many things. But one thing is neces- 
sary." (2) The world which admires the Sister 
of Charity and acknowledges the value of her 
services, yet finds fault with her devotions. 

When it reproaches her with losing the time 
that she consecrates to them, it has not the 
slightest suspicion that without this no Sister 
of Charity would be possible; but could she 

(1) Acts, vi, 4. 

(2) Luke, x, 41, 42. 



171 

herself share this gross illusion or act prac- 
tically as if she shared it by neglecting her 
spiritual exercises ? . 

II. — If it is wished to establish a compari- 
son among these three lives in reference to per- 
fection, and among the institutes which exer- 
cise them, these are the principles laid down by 
St. Thomas: (1) 

The difference between one order and another 
is principally considered in the end proper to 
each, and secondarily according to the means 
employed to obtain it. That one is therefore 
absolutely better which proposes to itself a 
better end. Therefore an order living the con- 
templative life is in itself better than that 
exercising the active life ; according to what 
Our Lord said to Martha, sister of Mary: 
" Mary hath chosen the better part:" for, 
according to the Fathers, these two sisters are 
the figures of the two lives ; Martha represent- 
ing the active life in the service of the Divine 
Master, and Mary serving as a figure of the 
contemplative life. 

It may be remarked here that it is not 
according to these principles that the spirit of 
the world judges religious institutes, and that 
consequently it deceives itself in its apprecia- 
tions. 

There are however certain works of the 
active life that flow from the plenitude of con- 
templation, as preaching and the care of the 
sanctification of souls : and this is better than 

(1) 2a. 2a3, q. 188, a. 6. 



172 

simple contemplation: for it is more perfect to 
communicate to others the truths which have 
been contemplated by one's self than to con- 
fine one's self to contemplating them alone, as 
it is better to illuminate than merely to shine. 
This is why institutes wherein the labor for 
one's own perfection is joined to that for the 
sanctification of the neighbor, occupy the first 
rank of excellence among others; this is, in 
fact, the life led by the apostles, after the 
great model of all perfection, Jesus Christ, 
Himself. 

If the end of several institutes is equally 
good and perfect, the pre-eminence is then 
judged secondarily by the means used for ob- 
taining that end. And as the means are estab- 
lished not for themselves, but for the end, it 
follows that not the more rigid observances 
are to be judged the better, but those that are 
better proportioned to the end of the institute. 

ARTICLE III. 

SOLEMN, SIMPLE, PERPETUAL AND TEMPORARY VOWS OF 

RELIGION. 

I. — What is exactly meant by solemn or sim- 
ple vows is explained by "The Catechism of the 
Vows." (1) 

It likewise pointed out that solemn vows 
exist only in religious orders properly so-called; 
and this is the essential difference distinguish- 
ing these orders from simple religious congre- 

(1) Part 1st, ch. 3. 



173 

gations. It must be added that all the mem- 
bers of a religious order properly so-called do 
not always make solemn profession, but that 
the t re are some in which many are at least at 
first, allowed to make only simple vows; and 
that these vows, although simple, render the 
persons who utter them religious, in the strict 
sense of the word, as has been declared by 
Pope Gregory XIII of the simple vows pro- 
nounced by the scholastics of the Society of 
Jesus. 

Pope Pius IX, in an extraordinary congre- 
gation, convoked March 19th, 1857, on the state 
of regulars, decreed for all religious orders in 
which solemn profession of the vows was made 
at the end of only one year, that thenceforth 
it would be permitted to pronounce only the 
simple vows of religion after this single year 
of novitiate, and that a further trial during 
three more years would be required to be 
admitted to the solemn profession of these same 
vows. 

According to a declaration of the Holy See, 
(1) the simple vows of which we have just 
spoken, can be annulled by the superior of the 
Order, in case and by the very fact of the legiti- 
mate dismissal of the subject. Otherwise re- 
course must be had to the Sovereign Pontiff for 
a dispensation. 

II. — The (c Catechism" in reference to the 
merit of perpetual or temporary vows, offers two 

(1) Analecta Juris Pontificii, 1860. 

15* 



174 

propositions which in their brevity require 
explanation. (1) 

1st. It says that cl an inferior vocation can 
have its compensations: " in order that this 
proposition should be true it must have the 
condition understood that God is the author 
of this vocation; for if alleged against God's 
call, it would cease to be exact and true. 
Nevertheless, when a person is no longer free 
to repair the wrong, it may be a consolation and 
should serve as a spur to good will. 

2ndly. It also says: u To engage one's self 
but for a time presents the occasion of reiterat- 
ing one's sacrifice with full liberty. " This pro- 
position would be completely false if it be meant 
for a person limiting himself to the temporary 
vow through a want of generosity, when com- 
paring him with another person who has had 
the courage to give himself to God for all time, 
and who would be ready to do so again every 
day of his life, and w T ho, after all, remains in 
full possession of his interior liberty. Even 
as to his exterior liberty, there may have 
been more merit, also, by forestalling his own 
instability by the bond of the perpetual vow. 

III. Three principal conditions are neces- 
sary to render valid the admission to the vows 
of religion : first, it must be made by compe- 
tent superiors according to the constitutions: 
second, the one admitted to the vows must 
have reached the age fixed by the Church and 
by the approved institute; third, the admis- 

(1) Part 1st, ch. 3. 



175 

sion to the vows must have been preceded by 
a novitiate at the very least of one year; sev- 
eral institutes add the obligation 01 a second 
year and sometimes more. 

Other conditions may also exist necessary 
for the validity of the vows, according to the 
constitutions of the divers orders or congrega- 
tions. 

IV. The novitiate positively begins for the 
candidate only after his admission by the com- 
petent superior and even only from the moment 
of his real entrance into probation. 

Its duration must be for a full and entire year, 
and cannot be abridged by a single day or even 
less; so that the vows would be null if pro- 
nounced before the complete expiration of the 
year, even were it leap year. Whence is seen 
how great should be the exactitude to note down 
the day of the positive entrance to the novitiate. 
There are institutes in which it is established 
by rule that should the vows perchance be null 
through this defect or that of want of age, they 
become valid at the first public renovation of 
them afterwards made. 

The duration of the novitiate must be con- 
tinuous, so that there shall be for the novice 
no interruption in it, at least none moral. A 
sickness which should prevent him from tak- 
ing part in the exercises proper to the novi- 
tiate, and even a short absence for a legitimate 
reason, would not break the sufficient continuity. 
But should the novice be sent away or for- 
sake his vocation himself, there would then be 



176 

a moral interruption: consequently, in case of 
return, he would be obliged to begin over his 
entire novitiate. 



ARTICLE IV. 

OF THE DESIRE A RELIGIOUS MAY HAVE TO PASS TO 
ANOTHER INSTITUTE. 

I. This is St. Thomas' doctrine upon this 
question considered in a general way. (1) 

It must be said that it is no praiseworthy 
thing to pass from one institute to another, 
unless through necessity or for some great util- 
ity : either because those from whom separa- 
tion is made are scandalized, or because, all 
things being equals one does better in an order 
wherein one has grown accustomed to serve 
God, than in another. 

It may, nevertheless, be laudable to pass to 
another order for one of these three reasons: 
first, the love and desire inspired by God for 
a more perfect institute. It must be remarked 
that this superiority in the perfection of one 
institute over another is to be judged not solely 
by the austerity of the observance of the rules, 
but principally by the end that the order pro- 
poses to itself, and secondarily by the wise pro- 
portion of the means to the end of the insti- 
tute, as has "been set forth above. (2) 

The second reason might be the decay of the 
order in which one is. If then that order 

(1) 2a, 2ae, q. 189, a. 8. 

(2) Chap. Ill, art. II, sec. II, \ II. 



177 

should have wandered from the perfection of 
its institute, it would be praiseworthy to pass 
even to a less strict order in which the rule 
would be better observed. 

The third reason would be the inability of 
a religious to observe a rule too rigid for him, 
whilst he could follow another which would be 
less severe. 

But it must be observed, that in the first 
case, the religious must ask, through humility, 
the permission, which still may not be refused 
him, provided he be certain that the order into 
which he wishes to pass is of a more strict 
observance. If there be any doubt upon this 
point, he is to take the advice of the superior, 
as prescribed by Canon law. The second case 
also requires that the religious should consult 
the superior. But in the third case a dispen- 
sation is necessary. 

II. This is exactly the doctrine of the Church 
as to the passage of a religious from one insti- 
tute to another; we shall add some short ex- 
planations. 1st. It is therefore, generally 
speaking, permitted to a religious who has 
made the vows according to one rule to pass 
to a more perfect institute. Which arises, as 
we have already said, (1) from the right that 
every one retains, after making a vow of com- 
muting it to a better one. Moreover, although 
God may have been really the author of the 
first vocation, it is evident that He ever re- 
mains the Master of His creature; and that, 

(1) Chap. I, art. III. 



178 

besides, even if He has fixed it at a post, He 
without contradicting Himself, call it later 
to a higher one. We find examples of this in 
many Saints, such as St. Anthony of Padua, etc. 

2ndly. We said, generally speaking, because 
there are orders and even simple religious con- 
gregations from which a passage to another 
institute, has been, for just motives, forbidden 
by the Holy See, at least without the formal 
sanction of superiors. 

3dly. It is to be remarked, that, in order to 
be legitimate, this desire of passing to another 
institute, even though it be more perfect, must 
come from God, and it is a duty for him who 
feels it to assure himself of this ; for when a 
person is already settled according to the Di- 
vine Will, nothing is more dangerous than 
the temptation presented by the enemy of sal- 
vation on this point to human inconstancy. 

u For those who desire what is good," says 
St. Ignatius, the devil applies himself above 
all to lead astray their good will; he feigns 
that he wishes nothing but to favor this good 
will, and he proposes to it what is apparently 
and fictitiously better in order to bring a soul 
to his perverse ends. (1) 

A case of this nature exacts a very special 
examination; because manifest proofs in order 
to be convinced of a new call for God, more 
are required than even for the first vocation. 
This person, during his whole novitiate, had 
no doubt contrary to the vocation he was en- 

(1) Spirit. Exer., Rules on the discernment of spirits. 



179 

tering; how could he now imagine that God 
demands of him so important a change ? This, 
in our view, is an ordinary means of judging 
the question, and a superabundant reason for 
rejecting, at the#ery first, such thoughts as 
dangerous suggestions. A case deserving of 
some examination, might perhaps be that of a 
person who then knew no other institute than 
the one that he entered, or again that wherein, 
some indication has subsequently become ap- 
parent of which account should have been 
taken. 

4thly. As to the motive of changing that is 
drawn from the decay of a congregation, it 
would certainly be legitimate, as St. Thomas 
declares, if it unfortunately had foundation or 
above all if there resulted therefrom a peril to 
the salvation of the religious. But it must be 
said that every relaxation that a person may 
imagine that he sees is not sufficient to autho- 
rize so grave a determination. A dissatisfied 
or fretful spirit often creates what does not 
exist, or exaggerates what does; and it does 
not know how to make allowances for human 
infirmity,, that is found wherever there are men. 
The criticism is unjust when it casts upon the 
w r hole institute the blame deserved by some in- 
dividuals. Finally, even if the religious body 
of which one is member be not all that it 
should be, it may happen that God requires what 
holy religious have done in like cases: namely, 
that one should show love of one's order and 
brethren, by applying one's self to remedy the 



180 

evil according to the grace that one has re- 
ceived, were it only by the humble protestation 
of good example. 

Therefore, the desire of leaving one's insti- 
tute and passing to anothe#»is rarely praise- 
worthy and is seldom the effect of an impulse 
of grace. Esteem and love of one's vocation, 
with an inviolable attachment to the holy 
state in which one has been consecrated to the 
Lord, is as we are going now to show, the common 
order and in general the great duty of reli- 
gious. 

ARTICLE V. 

OF ESTEEM AND LOVE OF ONE'S OWN VOCATION. 

I — The Apostle St. Paul has beautiful words 
on this subject: u See your vocation, brethren, 
he says, (1) "fix your eyes ceaselessly upon it: 
upon yours and not on that of others. Let 
each remain in the vocation to which he has 
been called. (2) ... I beseech you that you walk 
worthy of the vocation in which you are 
called. " (3) 

There are some vocations higher than others, 
there are institutes proposing to their members 
a perfection superior to that of some other in- 
stitute; this is an indisputable principle, as 
seen in the preceding article. But a no less 
certain principle and one more practical in its 
applications, is that there is a distinction to 
be made between two sorts of goods or perfec- 

(1) I Cor. i, 26. (2) I Cor. i. (3) Ephes. iv, 1. 



181 

tions: there is the good that draws its good- 
ness from the object, and the good that owes 
its goodness to the subject. A purely objective 
better and one considered apart from the agent, 
is only an abstraction, a speculation of the 
mind without reality ; the real better, more 
agreeable to God, more meritorious for man, 
is the subjective or personal better; and 
this better depends upon two things which 
must be united: on one hand upon God's vocation 
and grace, on the other upon our faithful cor- 
respondence with this vocation and grace; in 
a word this better consists in the will of God 
executed in every point; and it is found only 
therein. You aspire after something better 
which the Lord does not ask of you, and you 
neglect the good that He assigns to you ! Know 
that instead of a real and personal better you 
shall find only deception and mistake. 

But know also that when God does invite 
you to ascend higher, to refuse and obstinately 
remain lower, under pretence that this is 
enough for your ambition, and that besides 
you know how to tend therein to what is better 
for you personally, is a want of generosity, an 
infidelity, and an error full of perils. 

II. This is the sovereign rule in the service 
of God, our supreme and universal Lord. "To 
serve God/' says St. Ignatius, with an admir- 
able and energetic clearness of expression, "is 
to place ourselves at His disposition, that He 
Himself mav use us according to the whole 



16 



182 

extent of His Will and Good Pleasure ;"(1) and 
the saint gives the comparison of the tool, 
which never resists the workman whatever use 
he may make of it. Nothing is more practical 
than this luminous maxim, as much so for en- 
tering a state of life as for remaining therein, 
when it has been taken according to God,, as 
much so for the order to be chosen, the office, the 
time and the place, as for ever) 7 one of our 
actions. 

Since we refer here to the first principle of 
every vocation, let us still add one remark: 
Certain persons are often heard to ask them- 
selves in relation to the choice they have to 
make of a state of life: "In which shall I do 
the most good?' 5 The question is badly put, 
they should say: <c In which state does God 
wish me to do good and for what kind of good 
does He wish to make use of me?" For I am to 
attach and apply myself to the good that God 
wills of me, even were it less than the one 1 
imagine. It is, in fact, evident that this is 
the essential condition of a servant towards his 
Master, and thedisposition in which he should 
ever be. But, moreover, it is easily seen that 
these persons when speaking of the greater 
good they are to do in a state of life, think or- 
dinarily only of the good that they are to do 
to others ; and they forget, by a manifest illu- 
sion, that the first good to be thought of is 
their own good, good to their soul ; and most 
certainly we can hope to do that good only 

(1) Exerc Spir., Prselud. ad consider. Stat. 



183 

there where God promises us His help by the 
vocation that He Himself gives us. 

III. — This principle once laid down, the con- 
sequences are easily drawn. 

1st. The finest vocation for me, is that that 
comes to me really from God. The gift which 
merits my preference is that which He has 
deigned to give me. The situation wherein I 
can do the most good, and, before all else, work 
out the good of my own sanctification is that 
that He has judged well to assign to me. 

2nd. I must doubtless, esteem every institute 
raised by the Spirit of God and approved by 
His Church; but I am to love my own institute 
most: as a child loves his mother above every 
other person, even though she be less rich or 
less beautiful. 

3rdly. Piety, justice and charity oblige me to 
recognize and praise in all religious bodies the 
manifold grace of the Holy Ghost, Who by 
this marvellous variety provides for all the 
needs of bodies and souls ; but it is also my 
duty, to recognize with a still more loving 
heart the special grace of my vocation and all 
the benefits of which it is the source for me. 

4thly. One of the most important obligations 
of every religious is to nourish the love and 
esteem of his vocation. He who allows these 
two great things to be weakened in him, shows 
that he himself is becoming relaxed in the 
fideljty that he owes to God, and, instead of 
accusing his institute, he would-be nearer the 



184 

truth if he accused himself, in order to recall 
himself efficaciously to exactitude and fervor. 



CHAPTER IV. 

ON THE VIRTUES WHICH ARE THE OBJECT OF THE 
THREE VOWS OF RELIGION. 



ARTICLE I. 

DIFFERENCES EXISTING BETWEEN THE VOW AND THE 

VIRTUE. 

"The Catechism of the Vows" points out 
four differences between the vow and the vir- 
tue, and gives of every one of them a sufficient 
explanation. (1) But as it does no more than 
indicate certain practical lessons flowing there- 
from, we shall do well to insist thereon a little 
more strongly in order that the diligence of 
persons consecrated to God may be excited by 
their consideration. 

I. — The first difference shows in the vow a 
means relative to the virtue: whence is appa- 
rent the inconsistency of those relaxed religious, 
who after making the vow, neglect the virtue. 

The better to make them feel this fatal in- 
consistency they should be confronted with the 
fervent religious that have been given by the 
same vocation; the sight of these domestic 
examples will be a powerful spur to excite 
them ; for it is only by resembling them that 

(1) Part 1st, chap. IV. 



185 

they can legitimately glory in having them as 
brethren. 

Their ardor may likewise be re-awakened by 
showing them the saints who even out of the 
cloister have ascended so high in the perfection 
of the virtues, although these were not bound 
to the Lord by vows, as they are. What do I 
say? Even the thought of so many generous 
souls which the Church can ever present to 
them from the midst of the world, will be 
for them a subject of salutary confusion. 
Ah ! if God had granted to these fervent Chris- 
tians a vocation such as theirs, with all the 
means of sanctification that it contains, what 
would not have been their correspondence and 
their fidelity ? 

These are reflections that it would be scarcely 
possible to make seriously without being 
touched ; and thus shall a religious turn away 
the danger that threatens him in the midst of 
his abundance, that of growing accustomed to 
the gifts of G-od even so far as to cease esteem- 
ing them, according to St. Augustine's expres- 
sion (I) and thereby soon reaching the terri- 
ble evil of tepidity and abuse. 

II. — The second difference between the vow 
and the virtue is that the vow cannot properly 
extend beyond what it imposes under pain of 
sin, whilst the virtue can rise to a perfection 
ever higher and higher. 

From this again a great consequence is to be 
drawn, namely, that it is by zeal in increasing 

(1) Assiduitate vilnerunt. 
16* 



186 

in virtue from day to day that one becomes a 
good religious. This truth will be better un- 
derstood by means of a comparison in the com- 
mandments of God we distinguish the part 
called negative which always obliges under pain 
of sin, and the part called positive which, with- 
out always binding the conscience, guides man 
to an ever more perfect observance of the com- 
mandment. For instance, the first three pre- 
cepts of the decalogue in their negative part, 
forbid under pain of divine offence everything 
that is contrary to the worship due to God ; but 
they go far higher in their positive part, since 
they embrace all the degrees of perfection by 
which the true servant of God should strive to 
exercise acts therein: and the same may be 
said of the other commandments as to the matter 
that is peculiar to them. Now, vows are obli- 
gations that a man imposes upon himself by 
the promise that he makes to God, and they 
become thus a kind of personal precept wherein 
a negative. and a positive part may be distin- 
guished: the first is the proper matter of the 
vow obliging under pain of sin; the second is 
the matter of the virtue wherein the true reli- 
gious should tend to an ever increasing perfec- 
tion. 

The religious found in communities can be 
divided into three divers classes: the mediocre 
religious, the good religious, the holy religious ; 
for we put aside a fourth class, the bad reli- 
gious, since they are in fact no religious, or 
only to their condemnation. 



187 

To these three classes may be applied what 
St. Ignatius says of the three sorts ot persons 
who give themselves to the spiritual exercise 
of a retreat: c 'Some walk at their ease and 
without going out of the narrow space they 
have marked for themselves ; others take the pace 
of a traveller who walks more briskly and 
does not limit the space he is to traverse until 
he has reached the end of his journey; the 
third do more still, they choose a racing speed, 
because they wish to go farther and arrive 
sooner. (1) 

Thus the mediocre religious is he who pro- 
ceeds slowly, satisfied to walk at his ease within 
certain limits wherein he goes to and fro. In 
him the spirit of faith and the spirit of sacri- 
fice are weak and often wanting; his intention 
frequently lacks uprightness and purity, he ob- 
serves his rules provided they do not constrain 
him too much; he does not act against virtue 
when what it requires is easy; but in difficul- 
ties he is often found in fault. 

The good religious is he who in his career 
has taken the quick and resolute step of a 
traveller: for he seriously means to attain his 
end. Doubtless he is not impeccable; but his 
soul has elasticity ; he has the true devotion 
spoken of by St. Thomas, that is, promptitude 
of will to devote himself to the things that 
belong to the service of God. Therefore, not 
only does he dread as a misfortune every sin 
and every violation of his vows, however slight ; 

(1) Spirit. Exerc, 1st Annot. 



188 

but also he habitually acts according to the 
requirements of virtue, and if he sometimes 
stumbles in a difficulty it is only through sur- 
prise or a momentary weakness, from which he 
rises without delay. 

And what is to be said of the holy religious ? 
He runs, and would like to fly in his career, (1) 
and he repeats after the Apostle: ' f Not as 
though I had already attained or were already 
perfect, but I follow after, if I may by any means 
apprehend . . . forgetting the things that are 
behind and stretching forth myself to those 
that are before." (2) Nevertheless believe not 
that he is without temptations, without diffi- 
culties, without failings, without falls and even 
without sins. No, this perfect delivery belongs 
not to the saints of this world; and know well 
that the trials God sends them are even greater 
than yours, because He proportions them to 
their virtue. But what does belong to the 
holy religious is the single will, and conse- 
quently strong and constant, the will to go 
to God by disengaging himself from every- 
thing else, the will to profit by all things, even 
by his defects and faults in order the better to 
rise towards the one object of his love. And 
his great means of attaining that end are his 
vows and his rules, together with abnegation 
and patience, the spirit of faith, confidence and 
humility. 

(1) Who will give me wings like a dove and I will fly ? 
Psalm liv, 7. They shall take wings as eagles and they 
shall fly and not weary. Isaias, xl, 31. 

(2) Philippians, iii, 12, 13. 



189 

It must be said, moreover, that fervent com- 
munities are not only those in which saints only 
are to be found, nor those in which no defects 
are to be met with. Alas! it is in vain that 
such would be sought on earth. There are 
always mediocre religious in a good commu- 
nity; but the good form the majority. May 
it please Our Divine Master to keep the bad 
entirely away, and ever grant it also a few 
saints ! 

III. The third difference between the virtue 
and the vow consists in this, that the virtue is, 
in its turn, a means relative to the vow : so that 
the more diligent will a religious be in prac- 
tising the virtue, so much safer shall he be as to 
the violation of the vow. Bat he must know 
also, that when he notably neglects the exer- 
cise of the virtue, he infallibly approaches in- 
fidelity to his vow. This pressing motive of 
applying himself to virtue is perfectly devel- 
oped in Rodriguez " Christian Perfection/' (1) 

IV. The fourth difference lays down this prin- 
ciple, that a religious can sin against the vir- 
tue without violating his vow: whence two im- 
portant truths must be gathered: first, that 
every failing against poverty or obedience is not 
necessarily a sin against these vows; secondly, 
that he cannot always say: "My vow is not 
violated, therefore there is no sin/' 

(l) Part III, 6th Treatise, chapters 1 and 5. 



190 



ARTICLE II. 

OTHER OBLIGATIONS RESULTING FROM THE RELIGIOUS 
PROFESSION, BESIDES THAT OF THE VOWS THEM- 
SELVES. 

The obligations of which we are about to 
speak result from the act of donation, which 
the religious by his profession, makes of his 
person, to the institute in which he pronounces 
his vows. 

Section I. — What are those Obligations. 

Every man presenting himself to become a 
member of a body, and who is eventually ac- 
cepted as such, binds himself and contracts obli- 
gations towards that body: obligation of sta- 
bility according to the nature of the engage- 
ment taken upon himself; obligation of con- 
curring with the common good and the com- 
mon end; obligation of following the direc- 
tion and impulse of those legitimately govern- 
ing; obligation of maintaining union and con- 
cord with the other members; obligation of 
loving with a special affection the body and 
the members of the body of which he forms a 
part; obligation, finally, of overcoming the 
obstacles which may oppose themselves to the 
duties of his position. 

All this is true of any association and in 
proportion to the degree of connection estab- 
lished among the members; truer still of asso- 
ciations established by the Spirit of God for a 
spiritual end and consecrated by the appro- 



191 

bation of the Church. But what binds together 
much more closely the members of a religious 
body is the sacred bond of the vows therein 
made. 

Then every individual resembles a stone that 
is part of the construction of an edifice: a liv- 
ing stone, so incorporated into this living edi- 
fice, that did it wish of itself to change its 
destination, its place or its function, not only 
would it compromise the beauty of the edifice, 
but often its very solidity. A still more com- 
plete and more expressive comparison can be 
found in the natural family : for all that the ties 
of blood establish in the way of relations, rights 
and duties in the bosom of a family, the bond 
of the vows establish in the religious body, 
creating therein a spiritual paternity, filia- 
tion and brotherhood. 

Without stopping longer at the other re- 
spects, we reach the place to insist upon two 
great points of the religious life: first, union 
and fraternal charity ; second, the evangelical 
detachment of the religious from his relations. 

Section II. — The Duties of Religious Fraternity. 

1. It would be superfluous to prove that all 
that is said in the Gospel concerning Chris- 
tian fraternity applies in a much more special 
manner to religious fraternity. And what is 
the mark by which Jesus Christ, Our Lord, 
wishes His own to be known? He Himself 
has told it — union and charity among breth- 
ren: "By this shall all men know that you 



192 

are My disciples, if you have love one for 
another. " (1) Such also was the most striking 
characteristic of the primitive Church: "They 
had but one heart and one soul/' declares Holy 
Writ; (2) and the Pagans, wondering at this 
novel spectacle, repeated with admiration: 
"See how they love one another!" 

Soon, unfortunately, and as the number of 
Believers multiplied, charity grew cold in. the 
hearts of many: that is why, even before the 
era of persecution had passed, the Spirit of 
Charity. gave rise to those religious institu- 
tions in which He wished to preserve the sacred 
fire in its first purity; and whilst the common 
Christians often found it difficult to strictly 
observe the precept of charity, a multitude of 
pious asylums were destined to show it per- 
petually to the world in all its perfection. 
How many means have been brought together 
there to produce and maintain this divine re- 
sult! To speak only of the holocaust of the 
vows, is it not a sacrifice, offered not only to 
God, but even to one's brethren in G-od's sight ! 
And can it not be said to be equally full of 
divine and of fraternal love? 

How much, therefore, should every religious 
apply himself to foster within himself that 
spirit of charity, and so to cause this queen 
of virtues to flourish in himself, that its per- 
fume escaping from the heart of every indi- 

(1) John, xiii, 35. 

(2) The multitude of believers had but one heart and one 
soul. Acts. 



193 

vidual, shall spread throughout the entire 
community ! 

II. In order to help goodwill, we shall point 
out briefly, on oue hand, what fraternal charity 
requires, and, on the other, what lessens it. 
What it requires above all are meek and 
humble hearts: from this source all the rest 
shall be seen to flow: disinterestedness, cor- 
diality, reciprocal esteem and confidence, deli- 
cate attentions, the most effective eagerness 
in rendering service, and, when needed, endu- 
rance of defects and a prompt and complete 
forgetting of mutual wrongs. 

What lessens charity and union among breth- 
ren before all other causes is egotism with its 
icy distinction of mine and thine, as says St. 
Chrysostom; (1) and, to go into details, it is 
pretensions and haughtiness; jealousies, im- 
patience, rudeness and sharp words, indeli- 
cacies and familiarity or susceptibilities, pout- 
ings and rancor., antipathies and coldness or 
preferences and exclusive friendships : it is the 
spirit of curiosity and affected wit, suspi- 
cions, distrust and indiscreet reports; finally, 
an inclination to criticism, to disputes, to 
singularity of ideas, to raillery and to jokes 
at the expense of the brethren. 

This is a double enumeration of things which 
can, on account of our defective nature, give a 
very meritorious exercise to fraternal charity 
every day and almost every hour. Motives of 
encouragement to this incessant struggle are 

(1) Meum et tuum, frigidum illud verbum. 

17 



194 

abundant, but it will be sufficient to recall the 
words of the great Apostle : "For he that loveth 
his neighbor hath fulfilled the law." (1) 

III. Fraternal charity is clearly connected 
with edification and mutual regards. 

1st. A religious truly loving his brethren 
will prove it especially by leading them on to 
good by the examples of his regularity, and 
will not allow himself anything which might 
disedify them. It is already an evil to commit 
faults oneself, and the least of them, when 
deliberate, harms a religious much; but the 
evil is much greater when he causes his breth- 
ren to commit them and thus places them on 
an incline which may become dangerous for 
them and lead them further than he thinks. 
Ah ! shall not every one of us have a sufficient 
account to render to the sovereign Judge? 
Do we wish to add to it the failings to which 
our words and actions will have drawn others ? 
A religious should conceive the greatest aver- 
sion for anything, which, in him, would be of 
a nature to disedify his brethren: such was the 
sentiment experienced by St. Paul, and in 
what energetic terms did he not express it ! (2) 

2dly. As to mutual attentions due to one an- 
other in religion, the same Apostle spoke thus 

(1) Romans, xiii. 

(2) But take heed lest perhaps this your liberty become 

a stumbling-block to the weak Now when you sin 

thus against the brethren and wound their weak con- 
science, you sin against Christ. Wherefore if meat scan- 
dalize my brother, I will never eat flesh, lest I should scan- 
dalize my brother. I Cor. viii, 9, 12, 13. 



195 

to the first Christians; "Loving one another 
with the charity of brotherhood, with honor 
preventing one another; let each treat his 
brother as his superior." (1) These beautiful 
words express perfectly the duties of religious 
fraternity. Among brethren are needed love, 
cordiality and a certain freedom of intimacy 
which is not to be had towards others; but to 
these respect must be added among brethren 
united according to God ; and all owe one an- 
other esteem and honor, exacted on the one 
hand by the dignity of their vocation, and on 
the other by the care to recognize by faith in 
every one the person and image of Jesus Christ, 
Our Lord, Himself. 

This fraternal respect should have two char- 
acteristics: first, it ought to exist more in the 
reality of deeds than in exterior forms; second, 
every one should maintain therein religious 
simplicity. 

That it may be practical and effective, be 
humble; then will your deferences be no vain 
demonstrations, as are too often those of the 
world. Then, according to the Gospel, you 
shall always seek the last place rather than 
the first, (2) what is least in the house rather 
than that which is best. Multiplied applica-. 
tions of this principle might be made but in a 
few words I shall say all : avoid those thousand 
petty artifices of self-love, always occupied with 
self, always in quest of preferences and privi- 
leges. 

(1) Romans, xii, 10, and Philip, ii. 

(2) Sit down in the lowest place. Luke, xiv, 10. 



196 

As to the exterior expression of fraternal 
respect, the members of a religious community 
ought to strive to become perfectly polite and 
civil among themselves, nothing would be more 
unbecoming to them than clownishness and ill- 
breeding. But their politeness must also be 
modest, and the manifestations of their defer- 
ence, full of simplicity : only at that price will 
it be charity ; and it will likewise please and 
edify only on that condition. Consequently 
religious must avoid as unworthy of their pro- 
fession, far-fetched manners, affected compli- 
ments, and everything recalling the pretension 
and exaggeration of worldly politeness. 

Section III. — Of Evangelical Detachment from 
One's Relatives. 

Nothing is more formally expressed in the 
Gospel than the duty of detachment from rela- 
tions for those called by God to the religious 
state. The Divine Master goes so far as to 
exact that a person called by Him should leave 
them for good, in order to be able to be entirely 
given up to His service and to the duties of 
that high vocation. In His design of making 
the religious soul His special spouse. He wishes 
her to apply to herself what is written of the 
conjugal state: "Man shall leave father and 
mother and shall cleave to his wife" (1); and 
He addresses those words of the Psalm to her: 
"Hearken, daughter, and see, and incline 
thine ear; forget thy people and thy father's 

(1) Gen. ii, 24. 



197 

house, and the King shall greatly desire thy 
beauty, for He is the Lord, Thy God. (1). 

To show at the same time the legitimacy, 
the duty and the practice of this evangelical 
detachment, we shall specially cite the princi- 
ples of St. Thomas, which are those of Holy 
Church and of right reason according to God. 

§ I. — What is the debt of 'filial piety . 

In virtue of natural right a son owes his 
father and mother something essential and 
something accidental. 

A son's essential debt towards his parents, 
considered as such, that is, as the principles of 
his being and consequently his natural supe- 
riors, is honor, according to these words of the 
law: " Honor thy father and thy mother. " His 
other duties flow from this fundamental debt, 
such as love, respect, obedience and service. 

The accidental debt of filial piety is that 
which circumstances impose upon a son to- 
wards his parents. For instance, if they are 
poor, sick, captives, etc., he must honor them 
by going to their help with all means in his 
power. And as soon as this assistance becomes 
necessary and possible it admits of no excuse 
or dispensation. 

And as parents, on their side,, because they 
are the principal of their son's existence, have 
as their essential debt towards him to provide 
for his needs, not only for a time but during 
his whole life. 

(i) Psalru lxiv, .11, 12. 
17* 



198 

It follows from these principles : first, that 
it is not allowable to a father and mother to 
leave their children, even to consecrate them- 
selves to God in the religious state, before hav- 
ing provided for their future; 2dly, that a son 
may not leave his father or mother in a serious 
need of which he alone could relieve them, to 
follow a career that would not allow him to 
help them any more. If parents are in extreme 
necessity, that is, if their life be in peril, a son 
already a religious, is bound to succor them, 
even by forsaking his state, if he cannot do it 
otherwise. In case of a necessitv serious but 
not extreme it is more probable, according to 
theologians, that he is not obliged and even 
that it is not allowable for him to abandon the 
religious state; but he is bound, under the 
obedience clue to his superiors,, to employ all 
the means in his power to provide for his 
parents' needs. 

§ II. — Are the duties of filial piety to be omitted 
on account of those imposed by the virtue of 
religion f 

Here is the Angelic Doctor's answer: (1) 
Religion and filial piety are two virtues. 
And no virtue is contrary to another, because 
good can never be contrary to good. It is 
therefore impossible for religion and filial piety 
to contradict each other so that the act of the 
one should forbid the act of the other. In fact, 
the act of every virtue always has a limit set 

(1) 2a, 2ae, q. 101, a. 4, and q. 189, a. 6. 



199 

by right reason ; and if it proceeded beyond this 
limit, it would be no longer an act of virtue 
but a vicious act. Thus it is of filial piety 
which has its limits established by reason and 
justice, and it is evident that these limits 
would be overstepped in case a son should wish 
to honor his father more than God. If, then, 
my father provokes me to evil, or washes to 
withdraw me from the service that God re- 
quires of me, my duty is not to acquiesce to his 
will in this point ; but as the Apostle says, 
" shall we not much more obey the Father of 
spirits and live ?" (1) 

And this is the sense of those words of Our 
Lord in the gospel: "He that loveth father or 
mother more that me is not worthy of me/'(2) 

The first application of these principles is in 
case parents should wish to turn away their 
child from the service of God in things of obli- 
gation or expose him to occasions dangerous to 
his salvation. 

But they are also applicable in case a child 
is really called by God to consecrate himself 
entirely to His worship in the religious state. 
In fact, St. James and St. John are praised in 
the Gospel for having left their father to follow 
Jesus Christ. Not because their father excited 
them to sin; but since he could support him- 
self, his children saw nothing to prevent them 
from answering the call of the Lord. 

(1) Moreover we have had fathers of our flesh for our 
instructors and we reverenced them; shall we not much 
more obey the Father of spirits, and live? Hen. xii, 9. 

(2) Matt, x, 37. 



200 

When a child has attained the proper age, 
it is allowable for him to enter the religious 
state, even against his parents' will: for he 
then possesses his liberty in all that apper- 
tains to the disposition of his life by the choice 
of a state ; and this liberty assuredly exists, 
especially when a state of life wherein God is 
more perfectly served, is under consideration. 

Our Lord, in the Gospel (1) reproved a disci- 
ple who wished to delay answering His call, 
under pretext that he had first to bury his 
father: for, says St. Chrysostom, there were 
others at hand to fulfil that duty of filial piety; 
or, according to St. Cyril, that man asked to 
remain near his old father until his death, 
which Our Lord did not grant, as there were 
others whom relationship bound to take this 
charge. 

But the objection may be made that to honor 
one's parents is a duty exacted by precept, 
whilst to enter religion is only a counsel, and 
consequently left to the free choice of the 
Christian. 

I reply, first, that the precept of honoring 
one's parents relates not only to corporal ser- 
vice but also to spiritual services. 

Children in the religious state can abund- 
antly fulfil this precept by their prayers, their 
respect and even their good offices, as far as 
becomes their profession. And let it be re- 
marked, that even those who remain in the 
world have not always to honor their parents 

(1) Matt, viii, 21, 22. 



201 

by corporal services ; but they do so in differ- 
ent ways according to their condition and their 
state. 

I reply, in the second place, that a vocation 
to the religious state is not a thing left alto- 
gether to the Christian's liberty. Although, 
generally speaking, it is only a counsel, it is 
however a fact, that salvation is almost always 
dependent upon it, and were it only to assure 
that or to make it more easy, those whom God 
calls have the greatest interest not to resist 
His voice. And, according to the principles 
of the Gospel, parents cannot require their 
child to sacrifice the like interests to their 
caprice or even to their temporal advantage. 
Moreover, if a strong desire lead that child to 
the religious state, and, as often happens, the 
happiness even temporal of his whole life was 
involved, by what right could they pretend to 
oppose it, putting their own interest before 
that capital welfare of their child even in this 
world ? 

§ III. — The love of a religious for his parents. 

The world is sometimes heard to accuse the 
religious state of abridging the fourth com- 
mandment of God and of smothering the love 
for parents in the heart of those who embrace 
it. Besides the answers given above, let us see 
how the case really stands in reference to a re- 
ligious faithful to the obligations of his state. 

He is, doubtless, numbered among those to 
whom these words are addressed: "Whosoever 



202 

comes to me and hates not his father and his 
mother and his own life also, cannot be my 
disciple." Who is it that pronounced words 
apparently so hard ? Is it not the divine 
author of the commandment, Himself? And 
this is the interpretation which, with St. Igna- 
tius, must be given to them : "This is' why the 
religious must despoil himself of all carnal 
affection towards his kindred, to change it into 
a spiritual affection, and love them henceforth 
only with that one love required by well-regu- 
lated charity : as a man, who being dead to 
the world and to self-love, lives no longer but 
to Jesus Christ, Our Lord, who holds to Him 
the place of father, mother, brothers, sisters, 
and all things." (1) 

As is seen, it is not the love of parents that 
religious profession suppresses; it strives, on 
the contrary, to render it more true, pure and 
real, by cutting off carnal affection which too 
often lessens it ; and since the religious owes 
the plenitude of his affections to Jesus Christ, 
to whom he has consecrated himself entirely, 
it wishes that he should despoil himself of 
that pretended love of parents, which would be 
only the love of the world and of self, going 
back into the midst of the world, and entang- 
ling itself in the affairs and interests of the 
earth. 

In the religious the love of parents is no 
longer produced by certain acts unsuitable to 
the perfect service he owes to God ; but this 

(1) Sum. of the Constitutions, 8. 



203 

love always occupies the place required by 
well-regulated charity, namely, the first place 
after God ; it is more solid and more generous 
than that which satisfies the world ; and it is 
above all more profitable to parents, because it 
looks first to their essential welfare, which is 
that of their souls. (1) 

(1) We add nothing to what u The Catechism of the 
Vows" briefly indicates on the obligations of novices. 
Superiors will find the explanation of them in the "Trea- 
tise on the Religious State," by Father Gautrelet, part 1st, 
chapters II and III. 



204 



PART SECOND 

ON THE THREE VOWS OF RELIGION IN PARTICULAR. 

The second part of " The Catechism of the 
Vows" seems to us to call for much less devel- 
opment here than the first ; for on one side it 
contains not so much the principles as their 
applications, which are already in the text ; 
and, on the other side, the details which might 
be desired are abundantly furnished by books 
placed in the hands of all, as " Christian Per- 
fection/' by Rodriguez, "The Religious/' by 
Father St. Jure, etc. 

CHAPTER I. 

RELIGIOUS POVERTY. 
AETICLE 1. 

TWO PRINCIPLES ON EVANGELICAL POVERTY. 

Section I.— Evangelical Poverty attacks Cupidity, 
the first enemy of Salvation and Perfection. 

"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is 
the Kingdom of Heaven." (1) Such is, as 
every Christian should know, the first beati- 
tude proclaimed by Jesus Christ, the beatitude 
of voluntary poverty. 

This blessed poverty, to which the Gospel 
promises the Kingdom of Heaven, consists gen- 
ii) Matt, v, 3. 



205 

erally and in its essence in the care taken to 
keep the heart detached from the temporal 
goods of this world; and even the wealthy who 
possess these goods must have this detachment 
in a first degree, in order to be able to merit 
life eternal. 

In a superior degree and with more merit, is 
it the portion of those who accept and support 
in a Christian manner the real privation of the 
goods of fortune, when such is the will^of God 
and the disposition of His Providence. 

But its supreme degree and merit shine forth 
in the generous hearts who voluntarily re- 
nounce both the wealth that they possess and 
that which they might acquire, in order to 
raise all their desires towards the riches of 
eternity. To these does Jesus Christ declare 
that the Kingdom of Heaven already belongs 
to them, that they have paid for it in advance 
and that they have become its actual proprie- 
tors by the voluntary sacrifice which they have 
made. 

And why is poverty in spirit the first of the 
means that man must employ as well to gain 
Heaven as to acquire perfection ? We have 
already said it, (1) and it is good to repeat it 
again: because it is the remedy to that one of 
our spiritual evils which is the root of all the 
others, according to these words of the Apos- 
tle: "The root of all evil is cupidity." (2) 

(1) Part 1st, ch. 2, art. 4, sec. 1st. 

(2) For the desire of money is the root of all evil. J Tim. 
vi, 10. 

18 



206 

This is why the Saviour of men not content 
with opening his preaching by this, also begins 
His life by giving in His person this first les- 
son from the stable and the crib. And when 
He wishes to teach the secret and the road to 
perfection, He gives notice that it is still thence 
that the start must be made: "If thou wilt be 
perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the 
poor and thou shalt have a treasure in Heaven. " 
(1) The first to receive this great lesson and 
to will to practice it in its whole extent, were 
the Apostles. They likewise presented it to 
the fervor of the primitive Church, and have 
thus given to religious communities the form 
of perfect poverty. (2) 

Cupidity is then the first enemy to be at- 
tacked, that the soul may become capable of 
rising towards God and of attaching itself to 
Him: for the obstacle that this enemy opposes 
to charity is of a nature to give means and 
strength against it to all the other enemies, 
riches being as the food and instrument of all 
our passions. Hence the anathema pronounced 
against the rich; (3) hence the names given to 
riches — they are sources of deception, briars 
and thorns that choke the good seed; (4) glue, 
by which souls are caught and fastened; pitch, 
the very touch of which soils the hands. 

(1) Matt, xix, 21. 

(2) See Rodriguez, Part III, 3d Treatise, ch. 4. 

(3) Woe to you that are rich. Luke, vi, 24. 

(4) Matt, v, 13-22. 



207 

Section II. — Poverty is the Wall of lieligion. 

This is the second principle upon which it 
is necessary to insist, and may Heaven grant 
that religious be thoroughly convinced of it 
and remain always penetrated with its import- 
ance. 

Poverty is justly called the wall of religion. 

The tvall, that is the foundation; is again that 
the wall of construction of the whole edifice ; again 
finally , the watt of defence and the rampart. The 
wall of religion, that is, of that state of perfec- 
tion wherein one must be given up wholly to 
Grod and to His service: which must be under- 
stood of the entire religious body, of every reli- 
gious house, and of every religious individually. 

I. — Poverty is the wall of foundation upon 
which rests the two other essential virtues of 
the religious state — chastity and obedience. 
And in fact these have a need of it that is 
morally necessary; for, without poverty, it is 
extremely difficult to be and to remain per- 
fectly chaste, humble and obedient, as is 
proved by the greater number of the wealthy 
of the world. With greater reason is poverty 
the foundation upon which charity is to rise, 
as we have said when speaking of cupidity, its 
enemy. 

II. — Poverty is again the wall of construction 
of the whole edifice which chastity and obe- 
dience are afterwards to furnish and to em- 
bellish; of that spiritual edifice called a reli- 
gious order or a religious house, or the reli- 
gious life in the individual. 



208 

In fact, see the radical difference between 
what takes place here and in the world. There, 
if a business firm is to be founded, the members 
begin by considering how much money they 
can contribute to the capital of the company. 
Likewise, when the question of getting settled 
in life and of making a home is under study, 
the resources of the two parties to the marriage 
are first examined. Finally, to build a mate- 
rial edifice, money is indispensable: "Which 
of you having a mind to build a tower/' says 
Our Lord, "doth not first sit down and reckon 
the charges necessary, whether he have where- 
withal to finish it?" (1) 

But, on the contrary, if a religious society or 
house is to be founded, the capital and funds 
essential to it are holy poverty, without which 
God and the Church would not recognize it. 
Does any one wish to get settled in religion, he 
must at the start despoil himself of his goods ; 
and to raise the edifice of the spiritual life 
within himself, he must again and ever remain 
poor. "So likewise/' does Our Lord add at 
the same place, " every one of you that doth 
not renounce all that he possesseth, cannot be 
my disciple" in the religious state. (2) 

Nevertheless, some one will ask, are not tem- 
poral resources necessary also to religious 
societies, must not every one in religion have 
the necessaries of life? Yes, doubtless, what 
is at least necessary to the life of the body is 
needed; and for that very reason religious are 

(1) Luke, xiv, 28. (2) Luke, xiv, 33. 



209 

also told : Be really voluntarily poor, keep 
holy poverty faithfully, and God will feed 
you: His word is given for this: u Seek ye 
first/' has He said, cc the Kingdom of God and 
its justice and all the rest shall be added unto 
you:" (1) otherwise the divine promise is not 
made to you. This is why, when evangelical 
poverty failed in religious houses, they col- 
lapsed, God and man uniting to destroy them; 
God using the injustice of man for the accom- 
plishment of His just decrees. If material 
edifices continued to stand here and there, thev 
were no longer religious houses : they no longer 
sheltered true religious; instead of those real 
vocations, so numerous in times of fervor, there 
were seen to enter there only worldly minds 
and hearts.,, who gathered together to prey on 
the goods of religious and who completed the 
preparation of its entire ruin. 

III. — Holy poverty is the .wall of defence of 
religion: " Solid rampart and refuge," says 
St. Ignatius, " which God inspired religious 
orders to establish against the enemy of human 
nature and against the other adversaries of 
religious perfection; bulwark under whose 
shelter they maintain themselves in their state, 
preserve the vigor of discipline, and resist a 
multitude of aggressions: this makes it easy 
to understand why the devil makes so many 
efforts, and does his utmost by so many means 
to overthrow this wall of defence." (2) 

(1) Matt, vi, 33. (2) Constitutionum, Parte X, \ 5. 

18* 



210 

It is a rampart against the world y of which 
"the errors, loves and terrors/' as says St. 
Augustine,, no longer reach the voluntarily 
poor, because in fact, by despoiling himself of 
the goods of this world, he has freed himself 
from its seductions, its enticements, its distrac- 
tions, its cares and all its embarrassments. 

It is a rampart against the devil: for, says 
St. Gregory, "Satan vainly engages in contest 
with the voluntarily poor ; he struggles against 
athletes disembarrassed from their garments '' 
(1) and upon whom he can catch no hold. 

It is a rampart against the flesh itself y notwith- 
standing the advantage possessed by this enemy 
of remaining within us. For where does the 
triple concupiscence find its food ? In riches, 
since money helps to obtain everything in this 
world — pleasures, honors, welfare of life. And 
as we have said, cupidity is banished from 
hearts along with wealth, by religious pov- 
erty, it is impossible not only for every reli- 
gious individually, but also for the commuity 
itself to have even the design to amass and to 
hoard, if poverty remain intact, for the poor 
are always at hand, according to the will of 
God, to receive whatever is superfluous. Thus 
religious poverty turns away the pleasures and 
enjoyments of life in food, clothing, furniture, 
etc.; there remains only what is necessary and 
proper, regulated and sanctified by obedience, 
resting on a life of penance and sacrifice 
wherein holy poverty ever holds sensuality in 

(1) Homil. 31, in Evangel. 



211 

check. So, also, the pride of life is very ill at 
ease with poverty, for the latter does not pro- 
cure the homages of the world nor what flat- 
ters human vanity: besides, poverty naturally 
helps the heart to maintain itself in interior 
humility and modesty. 

IV. — It is then true that poverty is a rampart 
behind which every religious and the entire 
religious body are sheltered from all their 
enemies. Therefore have religious orders tra- 
versed centuries without suffering any harm, 
so long as that wall remained solid and intact, 
whilst, on the contrary, in all of them that have 
degenerated, it has always been by breaches 
made in that rampart that evils have been 
introduced. And this is why all holy founders 
have raised it around their edifices, why all 
their worthy successors and all true religious 
have left nothing undone to maintain it and 
defend it, why all holy reformers have begun 
by repairing the breaches in it. But this is also 
the reason why "the enemy of mankind, on 
his side," as St. Ignatius says again, (1) " never 
fails to attack this bulwark and refuge in an 
effort to weaken it; changing what the first 
founders wisely regulated, and introducing in- 
novations not at all according to their spirit." 
These words, applied to the past, recall, alas! 
the causes of a long and deplorable history. 
Religious houses and entire orders wherein 
numerous Saints had been formed, were thrown 
by the neglect of holy poverty into a relaxa- 

(1) Constitute Part VI, c 



212 

tion that in some of them reached even depri- 
vation. These worn-out bodies finally fell into 
corruption, when violence came to make them 
disappear and to cast their pernicious riches 
as spoils to the wicked. 

Let us sum up: poverty is the tvall of reli- 
gion for the organization and the members: 
the support and defence of the religious spirit, 
of every religious vocation, of every religious 
virtue and every religious house. With holy 
poverty, religious shall always find it easy to 
be humble, chaste, obedient, mortified, meek 
men, united by fraternal charity, attached to 
their vocation; just as religious communities 
solidly established upon that foundation shall 
ever offer a spectacle of regularity and edifica- 
tion. On the contrary, without holy poverty 
everything is in peril and the wounds inflicted 
upon it inevitably bring after them relaxation, 
decay and ruin. 

St. Ignatius draws the following conclusion 
from this whole consideration on poverty. 
"We must then love it with an affection 
founded on esteem and preserve it in all its 
purity. " (1) Esteem alone does not suffice, 
nor affection alone: it must be a love founded 
on esteem, diligenda est: for we take little care 
to preserve what we do not love, and are apt 
not to love with a sufficiently steadfast affec- 
tion what the mind does not appreciate at its 
proper value. But, moreover, this love being 

(1) Paupertas ut murus religionis diligenda est et in sua 
puritate conservanda. Constitute Part VI, c 2. 



213 

thus well rooted in the depths of the souls, it 
will show itself by deeds: on the one hand 
every religious will avoid for himself every 
infraction, and, on the other, he will oppose 
with all his might anything that would lessen 
the first purity of it in his institute: for, 
finally, most witless, very blameworthy and 
a great enemy of his community and of his 
own self would that religious be who would 
himself demolish or allow others to pull down 
the wall of foundation of construction and of 
defence. 

ARTICLE II. 

THE VOW OF POVERTY. 

The vow of poverty is^ as we have seen, (1) 
the first of the three exacted by the state of 
perfection; and as we have also seen (2) reli- 
gious make it with the purpose of attacking 
cupidity more victoriously, that first enemy of 
charity in the heart of man. 

Section I. — This Vote considered in the religious 
ivho makes it. 

§ 1. — The nature and the matter of the Vow of 

Poverty. 

This vow may have two degrees: one which 
is more complete and more perfect consists in 
forbidding not only every act, but also every 
right of ownership, so that the religious can no 
longer possess anything as his own, nor acquire 

(1) Part 1st, ch. II, art. IV. (2) Part II, ch. I, art. I. 



214 

anything for himself^ by donation, testamen- 
tary legacy, or even legitimate inheritance. 
He may, however, even with this vow, with 
the consent of his superior, accept a legacy or 
a donation, not for himself, but for his com- 
munity. In some congregations, this same 
vow admits also this reserve, that the re- 
ligious may acquire personally in the three 
ways above-mentioned, but with the obligation 
of despoiling himself as soon as possible of the 
goods coming to him, to assign them to some 
pious destination. 

The other degree of the vow of poverty, less 
high and less complete, leaves to the religious 
the bare ownership of his goods, and deprives 
him only of the right of disposing of them 
without the authorization of his superiors, and 
it is by thus interdicting all act of ownership, 
that it does away with unregulated attachment 
to material things, prevents the dangers of the 
use of them and exercises religious in detach- 
ment from them by means of dependence in 
the disposal of them. 

In spite of what is practiced in certain con- 
gregations which allow to their members the 
free use of their patrimony, it should be known 
that the Holy See, when in approving an in- 
stitute^ exacts that every act of ownership be 
interdicted therein by the vow, without mak- 
ing an exception of personal goods; and be- 
sides, here is the declaration made by it recently 
in order clearly to point out the practice of the 
vow of poverty, even in congregations wherein 



215 

only temporary vows are made : "In these in- 
stitutes, the vow of poverty does not take from 
the professed the power of keeping the bare 
ownership of her temporal goods ; but it does 
take away from her all right of administering 
these goods and of disposing of the fruit or rev- 
enues which they produce, so long as she re- 
mains in the community. This is why, before 
making profession, a Sister must cede, even by 
a private act, the administration, use and usu- 
fruct of the said goods to whomsoever she 
pleases and even to her own institute if she so 
prefers. But the said cession shall be null and 
void in case the Sister leaves the congregation. 
She may even affix the clause that the above 
cession shall be always and at any time revoca- 
ble, even were she to remain in the institute : 
however, so long as her vows last, she is inter- 
dicted to make use of this faculty so reserved 
to herself, without the permission of the Holy 
See. 

"The same rule is to be observed in regard 
to the goods coming to her as inheritance after 
profession. 

"As to the domain of her goods, she shall 
have the power of disposing of them either by 
will, or to perform with the permission of her 
superiors, however, all the acts of ownership 
prescribed by law." 

The rule above given, as to an inheritance, 
applies equally to a testamentary legacy or to 
a donation made by a person still living. It 
is to be remarked, moreover, that to accept a 



216 

legacy or a donation, the vow obliges the re- 
ligious to have the superior's permission ; and 
this same permission is required in order that 
he may dispose in favor of some one else, of 
goods possessed by him as his own. 

§ II. — The violation of the Vow of Poverty. 

The " Catechism of the Vows" states the 
cases wherein this vow is violated, and in what 
manner permission' is required to dispose of 
temporal things. Moral theologians discuss 
other cases upon which we think we need not 
enter. At the most we shall add here some 
points of more ordinary application. 

1st. The manuscripts of a religious do not 
fall under the vow of poverty, unless he wishes 
to draw from them some temporal profit, as 
selling them, having them printed, etc. Nev- 
ertheless, they always remain under the de- 
pendence of the superior, through obedience, 
as the general welfare or the good of the indi- 
vidual may require. 

2d. To eat or to drink at the homes of out- 
siders, without permission, is not only a fault 
against discipline, but also a real, though gen- 
erally slight, violation of the vow of poverty, 
which forbids the receiving of anything upon 
one's own authority. 

3d. Likewise, the vow does not allow the 
religious to give away without permission what 
the community furnishes him for his own use 
or needs, as an article of clothing, a portion of 



217 

his repast, etc. ; unless a legitimate custom has 
granted a general authorization for this. • 

4th. A religious who, without permission, 
should refuse to accept the payment due to his 
work, would sin against his vow of poverty, 
and even against justice towards the commu- 
nity, since the latter has already the right to 
this, in virtue of the principle that all that is 
acquired by the religious is required by the 
monastery. 

5th. Eegarding a deposit accepted out of 
kindness by a religious to take care of it, this 
is to be remarked — that the vow of poverty is 
not violated if it be understood that he does 
not contract the proper obligation of a trustee 
or treasurer, which is to answer for the object 
in case of loss. However, even in this case, it 
is most wisely forbidden by the rule to accept 
any deposit without permission. 

Section II. — Influence of the Vow of Poverty on 
the general poverty of the Institute. 

Two kinds of poverty pertaining to the vow 
made are found in the religious state: one per- 
sonal to the religious taken individually; it is 
the only one spoken of in "The Catechism of 
the Vows;" the other common to the whole 
body and regarding all the religious of the in- 
stitute taken collectively, concerning which it 
is proper to say some words here. 

I. — The poverty common to the religious body 
is not the same in all institutes; the rule of 
every order adapts it to its end in the measure 
19 



218 

necessary to attain this end. The strictest is 
that which interdicts to the community itself 
the power of possessing real estate. By this 
is meant all goods of a nature to produce fruits 
or revenues capable of assuring the subsistence 
and maintenance of the religious. Such was 
formerly the poverty common to all the orders 
called mendicants, because the religious must 
derive their means of subsistence only from the 
alms of the faithful, without there being any 
possibility of these alms being converted into 
permanent possessions supporting the com- 
munity. However, this poverty does not ex- 
clude the possession of the religious house with 
its church and its garden, except in the order 
of Friars-Minor, and that of the Capuchins, in 
which even these three things do not belong to 
the community but remain subject in title to 
the donor or the Church. 

Such* poverty no doubt adds much to the 
perfection of personal poverty. For by pro- 
hibiting to the community the possession of 
real estates and of revenues drawn therefrom, 
it flows back on the members, who in conse- 
quence of it no longer have any means of sub- 
sistence assured in advance: which becomes 
also for each religious a most meritorious exer- 
cise of abandonment to providence and of faith 
in the promise of the Divine Master. This 
promise besides shall never fail, so long as they 
themselves shall fulfil the condition made by 
Him: "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His 



219 

justice, and all these things shall be added 
unto you." (1) 

II. — For wise motives, the Council of Trent 
(2) has authorized all the mendicant orders, 
except the Friars-Minor and the Capuchins 
(whose father, St. Francis, so loved holy pov- 
erty) henceforth to possess real estate in com- 
mon: so that several institutes formerly mendi- 
cants, are in fact so no longer, although this 
name and its privileges are preserved to them 
by the Church on account of their primitive 
rule. Only the Discalced Carmelites and the 
Society of Jesus for its professed houses, have 
renounced the right to profit by this concession 
of the Council. 

III. — In regard to the perfection of the common 
poverty, St. Thomas makes a distinction be- 
tween the monastic institutes, the mendicant 
orders, and those which must exercise works 
of corporal mercy. For he says, the most per- 
fect poverty is not always the strictest, but 
that which is most in proportion with the end 
of the institute. Thus it is proper, in monas- 
tic orders to have in common certain and suffi- 
cient means of existence ; otherwise they would 
have to be sought for out of the monastery to 
the detriment of contemplative life which is 
the end of these orders. St. Ignatius thought 
the same of his children who are at their studies 
in the seminaries and colleges, and the Society 
of Jesus belongs to mendicant orders only by 
its professed houses. 

(1) Matt. ch. vi. (2) Concil. Trid., Sess. XXV, c 3. 



220 

As to institutes having as an end the exer- 
cise of corporal charity, the perfection of their 
poverty could not consist in the exclusion of 
common resources, since they are necessary for 
the service of the neighbor and the works of 
their vocation. 

IV. — A remark still to be made on common 
poverty, is that which subjects the religious to 
a more entire dependence on superiors will be- 
come really more meritorious through obedi- 
ence, than a more austere and painful poverty 
in which less dependence is found; and it will 
also serve more efficaciously to the perfection 
of detachment, in which above all consists the 
merit and the perfection of poverty. For in- 
stance, who does not see that if in a community 
in which the religious live solely by alms, su- 
periors should allow to every member the free 
use of the gifts he receives, the spirit of poverty 
will be in far greater peril there than in a house 
wherein, with assured means of subsistence, 
everything is faithfully and even in the small- 
est matters sub-ordinated to obedience ? 

Let it be remarked, finally, for the consola- 
tion of many, that there exist, principally in 
our days, many religious communities, in 
which, without having by the express terms of 
their constitutions the common poverty of men- 
dicant orders, it is in fact practiced with the 
merit of the same abandonment to that same 
Goodness who cares for those who have left all 
to seek the Kingdom of God and His justice. 



221 
ARTICLE III. 

ON THE VIRTUE OF POVERTY. 

The virtue of poverty is not explicitly men- 
tioned among the moral virtues ; but it is an 
evangelical virtue, which by detaching man's 
heart from the temporal goods of this world, 
calls into exercise almost all the moral and 
theological virtues. It relates more directly 
to liberality and temperance ; and we know in 
what esteem it was held even among the wise 
men of Paganism ; let it suffice to quote these 
words of Cicero : "Nothing is more honorable 
and magnificent than contempt of riches." (1) 

The obligation imposed by this virtue upon 
religious is sufficiently explained in "The Cat- 
echism of the Vows," and likewise how the 
latter can sin against the virtue, even without 
violating the vow of poverty. We have only a 
few observations to add here. 

I. — Undue affection for temporal goods and 
objects. 

Cupidity is so lively a passion that it ever 
needs to be watched and repressed in man's 
heart. Would to God that the religious, who- 
ever he may be, would never forget this truth 
attested by experience ; for this inclination is 
not destroyed because it is chained down by 
the vow; and when it seeks to satisfy itself it 
becomes extremely fruitful in subtilities and 
pretexts. Accordingly, it is seen, after having 

(1) Nihil honestius magnificentiusque quam conterunere 
pecuniam. 

19* 



222 

made great sacrifices, such as the religious re- 
nunciation, clinging often later on to trifles, 
and for want of more considerable objects, 
seeking therein its gratification. And, it 
should be well noticed by the religious, the 
object of cupidity matters little to the tempter 
who excites it, that the enemy of souls seeks 
and what satisfies him is the unruly affection ; 
and he strives to attach the heart first to little 
things, in order to be able to obtain little by 
little more serious disorders. (1) 

II. — Superfluities. 

It must be remarked that that which should 
be so called in communities, necessarily pre- 
sents more or less appreciable differences accord- 
ing to the various ends of institutes. It there- 
fore does not belong to individuals to decide 
whether or not a thing be superfluous simply 
by their own estimate; things touching this 
matter are generally defined by the rule or the 
declarations of superiors, and it is the duty of 
everv religious to conform faithfullv to these. 

III. — Of the peculium and other similar ex- 
ceptions regarding the use of temporal things. 

There are two kinds of peculiums : one which 
is a real violation of the vow of poverty, be- 
cause it contains at bottom an independent use 
of temporal things; the other, which is not 
absolutely against the vow, because it remains 
dependent on the superior's will. The pecu- 
lium forbidden by the vow is that for which 
the superior gives permission whilst renounc- 

(1) See Rodriguez, Part III, 3d Treatise, ch. 5. 



22 



O 



ing his right to revoke it when he shall think 
fit, or again, when his permission is invalid, 
being given against the prohibition of the con- 
stitutions. Moreover, even the peculium which 
does not reach the positive violation of the vow, 
is fatal to religious communities, because it does 
harm not only to the spirit of poverty, but also 
to fraternal union and edification. It is here 
that may justly be applied the reproach ad- 
dressed by St. Paul to those Christians of 
Corinth who forgot the rules established in 
the holy assemblies of the first Christians: 
" When you come therefore together . . . one 
indeed is hungry and the other is drunk . . . 
is it not putting them to shame that have not ? 
What shall I say to you? Do I praise you ? 
In this I praise you not ?" (1) 

For further details on the question of the 
peculium, superiors may have recourse to 
Father Gautrelet's treaties on "The Religious 
State/' (2) 

IV. — Of the distribution of the temporal 
goods of which the religious despoil themselves 
either before or after profession. 

Jesus Christ, Our Lord, in giving the form 

of the religious state, said in His Gospel: "If 

thou wilt be perfect, go, sell all that thou hast 

and give to the poor." (3) Thus it is very 
^i 

(1) Convenientibus ergo vobis in unum . . . alius qui- 
dem esurit, alius autem ebrius est. Nuraquid . . . con- 
funditis eos qui non habent? Quid dicam vobis? Laudo 
vos? In hoc non laudo. I Cor. ii. 

(2) Vol. I, p. 171. 

(3) Vende omnia quae habes,et da pauperibus. Matt.xix. 



224 

noteworthy that the evangelical counsel on 
religious poverty extends to the very use to 
be made of the goods of which one despoils 
one's self, give them to the poor : says Our Lord, 
and not Give them to your relations or your 
friends. Would a religious after having lis- 
tened to the first part of the Divine Counsel, 
wish not to hearken also to the second? This 
would be to act contrary to the perfection of 
his state, and to deprive himself of the merit 
of his renunciation, by corrupting it with a 
mixture of human affections. 

There is, besides, a very particular reason 
for this destination of goods proposed to the 
religious by Jesus Christ, a reason connected 
with the solidity of his very vocation. In 
fact, if he gives his goods to his relations, 
could not the day come when he would count 
upon them in case of unfaithfulness to his 
vocation? And in time of temptation, w r ould 
not the devil himself have something to use to 
shake and overcome him. But when a person 
has given to the poor all that he possessed,, on 
the one hand, he has the right to that treasure 
promised in exchange by Jesus Christ, since 
it is to Him really that the goods have been 
given in the person of the poor; and, on the 
other, after having thus, so to speak, burnt 
one's ships, there remains only to cast one's 
self without reservation, and so to say head- 
long, into the career of perfection. It may 
thus be seen that not only is the practice of 
this evangelical counsel more meritorious and 



225 

more perfect, but that it is also a preservative 
against one's own instability, a means of per- 
severance and of fervor in the service of God. 

If, however, relations themselves be poor, it 
is evident that it would be the duty of the reli- 
gious to provide for them, even before think- 
ing of any one else; and in the appreciation 
of their needs he must moreover have regard 
to the legitimate claims of their condition. 

When any doubt arises, in a case of this kind, 
advice should be sought by permission from dis- 
interested, enlightened and virtuous persons: 
enlightened, that they may give prudent coun- 
sel; disinterested and virtuous, that they may 
give it according to God and, true piety. 

Other just motives which the religious should 
consider, may arise in this matter: for instance, 
an obligation of justice, some debt of grati- 
tude, or even occasionally the necessity of pre- 
venting discussions, scandals, etc. 

By the poor must, doubtless, also be under- 
stood, those voluntarily poor for Jesus Christ, 
and especially one's brethren in religion. Is 
it jiot even a duty of gratitude (more should 
be said) for the religious not to forget the needs 
of a community which takes upon itself the 
care of him for the rest of his life? 

The Gospel words must equally be inter- 
preted to include all good works : such as the 
care of divine worship, the propagation of the 
faith, the Christian education of children, 
assistance given to the unfortunate; and it 
is as just as it is natural to help in particular 



226 

the works of the religious body of which one 
is a member. 

Within the limits traced by his profession, 
the religious remains free to follow Msoion devo- 
tion for the distribution of his goods, for it is 
to him and not to others that Jesus Christ ad- 
dresses Himself: Give them to the poor ; and no 
one has the right to fetter the virtuous exer- 
cise he wishes to make of this liberty in the 
use of the goods given him by God. 

Nevertheless, superiors have to fulfil a duty 
here of superintendence and direction in order 
to prevent the religious from doing anything 
contrary to edification and the sjDirit of his 
state. 

V. — As to what regards the practice of the 
virtue of poverty and its divers degrees of per- 
fection, "The Catechism of the Vows" gives 
all the principles; and although this is done 
in few words, nothing essential seems to be 
omitted. If further developments are desired, 
they will be found in Eodriguez "Christian 
Perfection. " (1) It will be sufficient to add 
two observations. 

The first is, that all those who enter religion 
need to apply themselves carefully, from their 
novitiate, to thoroughly understand what re- 
ligious poverty is, and to acquire its spirit and 
holy niceties ; and to watch over their former 
habits which are too often in opposition to it, 
Once admitted to the livery of "Him who be- 
ll) Part III, 3d Treatise, cbs. 6, 7, and 8. 



221 

ing rich became poor for your sakes," (1) it is 
no longer allowable to preserve the thoughts, 
judgments, language or tendencies of men of 
the world in regard to the riches of earth; and 
he who is truly poor for Jesus Christ, loves to 
appear so and to be so in his whole person, in 
all his conduct and even in the least thing. 

The second observation is that in the eyes of 
a good religious, holy poverty is not only the 
wall of religion, it is also a mother to be loved 
ivith tenderness ; consequently, he is not satis- 
fied with bearing it with resignation, but he 
cherishes its livery, and is happy to catch every 
opportunity of experiencing its privations. 
" Let all," says St. Ignatius to his children, 
" cherish poverty as a mother, and in suitable 
circumstances, let them be well content to feel 
some of its effects within the limits of a holy 
discretion/' (2) 

CHAPTER II. 

RELIGIOUS CHASTITY. 

If the first vow of religion is of so great a 
merit before Grod, what will it be of the second? 
And if evangelical # poverty makes of the reli- 
gious a man no longer holding to this earth, 
what will be said of that still more celestial 
virtue by which he imitated the very life of the 
angels ? 

(1) Propter vos egenus factus est, cum esset dives. II 
Cor. 8. 

(2) Constitute, Part III, c. I. 



228 

But "The Catechism of the Vows" (1) has 
already sufficiently explained what concerns 
this beautiful portion of the religious holocaust. 
The vow and the virtue, the direct and the in- 
direct infractions, the necessary preservatives, 
the means of more and more insuring the pos- 
session of this treasure, finally, the prerogatives 
and the advantages of religious chastity, all 
seems to be therein set forth with the brevity 
required by the delicacy of the matter, and yet 
with the clearness necessary to enlighten con- 
sciences. 

We therefore see nothing to add now upon 
this second vow of religion. 

If a summary be desired of all that it requires 
from the religious, here it is in three words : 
the guard of the thoughts, the guard of the affec- 
tions, the guard of the senses ; and for further 
development, recourse may be had to Fathers 
Rodriguez and Saint- Jure. (2) 

Regular discipline embraces several points 
having some relation to religious chastity, 
such as enclosure, the parlor, visits and communi- 
cations through letters ; but what is to be said to 
religious upon these matters is found in the 
rules of their institute; and as to superiors, 
they will consult with profit Father Gautrelet's 
treatise on "The Religious State," in order to 
have all the explanations that they may desire. 

(1) Part II, ch. 2. 

(1) kt Christian Perfection," Part III, 4th Treatise.— ' c The 
Religious," Book 1st, ch. 6. 



229 
CHAPTER III. 

RELIGIOUS OBEDIENCE. 
ARTICLE I. 

DIVERS PRINCIPLES ON OBEDIENCE IN GENERAL, (i) 

I. — It is essential to obedience to perform the 
work commanded, not because it is pleasing 
and willed on its own account, but precisely 
because of the commandment and because it is 
willed by the superior, without which it is not 
an act of obedience. 

Whence it comes that in things agreeable to 
us, obedience is generally less or sometimes 
null ; whilst it is greater and more real in dif- 
ficult things or matters not to our taste. It 
may nevertheless happen, before God who sees 
and knows hearts, that even, in the former 
case, obedience is not less true or less merito- 
rious, as soon as the will is ready to obey w T ith 
an equal devotedness for God's sake. 

II. — To act against a command without hav- 
ing the will to disregard it, is only a material 
disobedience; and, if there be a fault, it be- 
longs formally to another kind of sin^ accord- 
ing to the motive or end of the act, or the in- 
tention of him who sins. 

III. — An inferior is bound to obey his supe- 
rior only in those matters in which he is subject 
to him, and in those things in which the supe- 
rior does not contradict a power above his own. 

(1) 2a, 2se, q. 104, a. 2. 
20 



230 

If the command be unjust, it is not at all oblig- 
atory^ since God does not communicate this 
authority to men to be used for what is im- 
proper. However, it is sometimes allowable to 
an inferior to execute an unjust command ; for 
instance, when the injustice falls only upon 
himself and when he consents to suffer it. It 
might happen that a person would be bound to 
execute this sort of unjust command, in virtue 
of another obligation, as in order to avoid scan- 
dal or some other harm. In case of doubt 
whether the command be unjust or not, the 
inferior has the duty of obeying, because the 
right to command, which is certain in the 
superior, must prevail over a doubtful opinion. 

IV. — To obey man for God's sake may easily 
become more meritorious than to obey God 
Himself manifesting His Will directly. The 
reason is that by so doing several virtues are 
more exercised, such as faith, humility, devo- 
tion, fortitude, etc.; and this is precisely the 
advantage that God wished to attach to reli- 
gious obedience. 

V. — Keligious obedience consists in this, that 
man, in order to be pleasing to God, volunta- 
rily places himself under dependence to another 
man in all that he may order according to the 
rule. But as has been said in "The Catechism 
of the Vows/' this obedience obliges by itself, 
under pain of sin, only when the superior de- 
clares that he commands in virtue of the vow. 
As to what falls under the simple power of rul- 
ing further possessed by a superior in the reli- 



231 

gious family, it is justly compared with that of 
a father in the natural family ; although it is. 
to be remarked that this comparison is not alto- 
gether exact, since the command of a father 
always obliges his children under pain of sin, 
so long as its matter is just and reasonable: 
which does not hold good for a simple prescrip- 
tion of a regular superior. 

VI. — Blind obedience, recommended by the 
Saints to religious, as the most perfect and 
meritorious, consists, says Suarez (1) in the 
exclusion of the prudence of the flesh, but not 
in that of true and supernatural prudence. 
For obedience being so excellent a virtue, ex- 
acts no less than all the other moral virtues 
the direction of prudence for its acts. But 
what belongs peculiarly to it is that the judg- 
ment of the prudence that guides it is founded 
rather on an extrinsic principal, namely the 
superior's judgment, than on itself in things 
that are not evident; and it is called blind be- 
cause it then puts aside its own judgment. 
And it excludes it in so far as it is incorrect or 
imperfect and not by forbidding all use of rea- 
son. Thus, for example, it should know how 
to examine and see whether what is commanded 
is against precept or rule. 

- (1) Tract, de Religione. 



232 



ARTICLE II. 

OBEDIENCE COMPARED WITH THE OTHER VIRTUES, (i) 

I. — Since obedience is only a moral virtue,, it 
is inferior in dignity to the three theological 
virtues. But it is to be noticed that among 
many others it possesses the privilege of con- 
taining an excellent exercise of the theological 
virtues themselves. 

II. — Obedience, says St. Thomas, occupies the 
first place among the moral virtues. In fact 
the greatest of all virtues is that which causes 
the greatest of created goods to be despised, to 
attach one's self to God. Now, there are in 
this world three kinds of goods that man may 
sacrifice to Divine Love. Exterior goods are 
of the lowest order; above them are the goods 
of the body; and those that excel all others 
are the goods of the soul, of which the will is 
the principal, by which man makes use of all 
the other goods. Hence it follows that obedi- 
ence, causing us to sacrifice to God the good of 
our will, is by that fact the greatest and most 
meritorious of all moral virtues. 

Let us add, with the same holy doctor, that 
as obedience proceeds from the reverence and 
submission rendered to God, in this respect it 
belongs to religion and to its first act, which is 
devotion. And religion is the most noble part 
of justice, which is the first of the moral vir- 
tues. 

(1) 2a, 2se, q. 104, a. 3. 



233 

Finally, the pre-eminence of obedience ap- 
pears in this, that in order to obey, it is neces- 
sary to omit every other act of virtue not other- 
wise obligatory: for man is bound to leave 
every optional good work, to attach himself to 
the good of obedience, which is for him a duty. 
And let him not be afraid of sustaining thereby 
any spiritual loss, since obedience will compen- 
sate, by a better good, for what he would have 
wished to do and which omits in order to prac- 
tice it. 

III. — A sacred oracle declares that "obedience 
is better than sacrifice, " (1) and St. Gregory, 
Pope, tells us the reason: "In sacrifices it is 
the flesh of animals that is immolated, whilst 
by obedience we immolate our own will." (2) 
And this is equally true of the sacrifice of 
obedience compared with any other, such as 
almsgiving, mortification, and even martyr- 
dom ; since these things would lose all their 
value if it were not for the accomplishment by 
them of the will of God. 

IV. — A celebrated sentence of St. Gregory 
will complete the eulogium of obedience: 
"This virtue/' he tells us, "is the only one 
which engrafts, so to say, every other virtue 
in our soul, as the gardener does for his 
trees, — and which, after having thus engrafted 
them, also preserves them there safe from all 
harm, in order that they may grow and success- 

(1) Melior est obedientia quam victima. I Kings, xv. 

(2) Per victimas aliena caro, per obedientiam vero vol- 
untas propria mactatur, Moral. 35, 10- 

20* 



234 

fully produce fruit." (1) In fact, explains 
St. Thomas, the acts of the other virtues 
belong to obedience, either when God com- 
manded directly Himself or when He expresses 
His will by means of a superior representing 
Him. When, therefore, these acts cause the 
habits of virtues to take birth and increase 
within us, rightly it is said that all this is the 
effect of obedience. Similarly, its peculiar 
function is to maintain all the other virtues in 
that medium outside of which they would 
perish, because they would degenerate into 
vice through deficiency or excess; and this 
advantage is much more surely procured for 
the religious in a manner altogether special 
by the obedience of every day than if he were 
guided only by his own prudence. 

ARTICLE III. 

THE VOW OF OBEDIENCE. 

I. — -The vow of obedience, says St. Thomas, 
(2) is the principal one of the vows of religion, 
and this for three reasons : 

First, because it offers to God the very will of 
man: which is something greater than the obla- 
tion of exterior things by the vow of poverty 
and that of the body by the vow of continence. 
Likewise, all the works that are done through 
obedience are more agreeable to God than those 

(1) Obedientia sola virtus est quae virtutes coeteras meuti 
iuserit, insertasque custodit. Moral. 85, 10. 

(2) 2a, 2ae, q. 186, a. a 8. 



235 

that proceed from one's own will; and even 
fasting is no longer pleasing to Him when it has 
as its only principle one's own will, according 
to these words of the Prophet: " Behold in the 
day of your fast your own will is found. " (1) 

The second reason is that the vow of obedi- 
ence contains the other two, without being 
contained by them. For although poverty 
and continence are already obligatory by vow, 
they are so too by obedience, under which they 
fall with many more things: whence comes, 
that in the Order of St. Benedict, obedience 
according to the rule is the only vow explicitly 
made. 

The third reason is that the vow of obedience 
extends properly over the acts that touch the 
closest to the end of religion. Now, a thing 
is all the better the nearer it approaches to its 
end. 

This is why the vow of obedience is more 
essential to the religious state than the other 
two. For to observe poverty and continence, 
even under vow, does not place one in this 
state which, according to St. Augustine, is pre- 
ferred even to virginity consecrated by vow. 
In the passage of the Gospel in which Our 
Lord invites to perfection, it is the counsel of 
obedience that is contained in these last words : 
"And come and follow Me:" (2) for he who 

(1) Ecce in jejuniis vestris invenitur voluntas vestra. 
Isaias, lviii. 

(2) Si vis perfectus esse, vade, vende quae habes et da 
pauperibus, et habebis thesaurum in coelo, et veni, sequere 
me. Matt. xix. 



236 

obeys follows the will of another. Conse- 
quently the vow of obedience belongs still 
more to perfection than the other two, as is 
taught by St. Jerome in his explanation of 
these words of St. Peter: " Behold we have 
left all things, and have followed Thee." (1) 
Because, says the holy doctor, it is not enough 
to abandon the goods of earth ; the Apostle 
adds what is perfect, when he says that he 
has followed Our Lord Jesus Christ. (2) 

II.— " The Catechism of the Vows" (3) 
strives with special care to explain everything 
about religious obedience, both as regards the 
obligation of the vow and the perfect exercise of 
the virtue; but it is satisfied with representing 
things with a just precision : for the books that 
religious have in their hands are full of the 
practical developments they still require in so 
important a matter: thus Rodriguez especially, 
explains perfectly all the points only indicated 
by our " Catechism." (4) 

ARTICLE IV. 

ON THE MANIFESTATION OF CONSCIENCE TO THE SUPERIOR 
AND ON DIRECTION. 

The same author treats, after obedience, of 
manifestation of conscience, because it is, in fact, 

(2) Ecce nos reliquimus omnia et secuti sumus te. 
Matt. xix. 

(1) Quia non sufficit tantum relinquere, jungit quod per- 
feotum est: Et secuti sumus te. 

(2) Part II, ch. 3. 

(1) Part III, 5th and 6th Treatises. 



237 

a consequence of religious obedience ; now, 
some important explanations must be given on 
this subject : 

I. — It must first be said, that the general 
doctrine of ascetic writers on the manifesta- 
tion of conscience of religious persons to their 
superiors, cannot be equally applied to all the 
superiors of communities. Doubtless, whoever 
has entered on the arduous way of perfection 
should not wish to walk therein alone and 
without direction; and it is to aid him, to 
enlighten him and to preserve him from illu- 
sions, that God has given him, not only rules 
to follow, but also superiors to consult. 

Nevertheless, it is easily understood,, that a 
great difference is to be made in this matter 
between superiors in priestly orders and those 
who are not so. The former have the know- 
ledge and the grace of the priesthood, both of 
which are wanting to the latter. The former 
being capable of jurisdiction and, in fact, 
possessing it, the religious may confide to them 
the secrets of his conscience under the sacra- 
mental seal of confession, whilst this is impos- 
sible with the latter. 

Whence it follows that manifestation of con- 
science as spoken of by the masters of the 
spiritual life, is due in its integrity only to 
superiors who are priests, and that the others 
can have right to it, if right there be, only in 
a very much more restricted measure, called 
simply direction. To support this conclusion, 
we give a declaration emanating from the 



238 

Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars. 
In the observations made formerly on the con- 
stitutions of a community of women soliciting 
the approbation of the Holy See, the Sacred 
Congregation spoke these remarkable words: 
"On account of the abuses that have crept 
into this matter, it is not at all customary, at 
present, for the Sacred Congregation to approve 
manifestation of conscience to the Superioress; 
but this only is allowed— that the Sisters, if 
they so wish, may disclose their defects in the 
observation of the rules and their progress as 
regards virtues : for, as to other points, they 
must treat them with the confessor. " (1) If 
they so wish, says the Sacred Congregation, 
doubtless they who desire their spiritual 
progress must also wish direction from their 
superioress; but finally, if it is a point of 
perfection for them, it ever remains true that 
it is an optional point and not one of obligation 
that may be imposed on them by command. 
Furthermore, it should be understood that we 
do not speak here of those cases in which the 
religious are bound, under pain of sin, to make 
certain manifestations to his superiors, and in 

(1) Ob abusus qui irrepserunt, in praesens Sacra Congre- 
gatio minirne solefc approbare aperitionem conscientise su- 
periorissse; sed tantum permittitur ut sorores, si velint, 
pandere possint defectus in regulae observantia, et proges- 
sum quoad virtutes; de aliis enim ab eis agendum est cum 
confessario. — Analecta Juris Pontiftcii, 38th Part, May and 
June, 1860, Since this epoch, the same answer has several 
times been made to divers religious congregations of 
women, by the Sacred Congregation. 



239 

which the confessor himself should impose 
this obligation upon him. This happens, for 
example, when superiors should be warned, at 
least by a third party, in order that they may 
remove or prevent the occasion of a fall or the 
danger of scandal, or a serious injury to the 
community. 

II. — It must be known that superiors are 
strictly bound to keep secret all the confidences 
made to them in manifestation of conscience 
or direction, whichever it may be, and that it 
is not lawful for them to communicate them 
even to other superiors, higher or lower, 
without the consent of the religious. They 
may, if it is not a secret of the sacrament, use 
them themselves for his personal welfare and 
guidance, and even for the good of the com- 
munity; but under the express condition of 
doing nothing of a nature to manifest to others 
what has been confided to them. 

Moreover, as the religious manifests himself 
then to his superior as to a father and not as 
to a judge, the latter has no right to use this 
as a starting point of rigorous measures 
towards his inferior, although it is sometimes 
allowed him to reprove him kindly, and even 
to correct him by some remedial and paternal 
penance. In a word, the spirit of love and 
charity is the only one that should animate 
the inferior and the superior in these intimate 
relations. The one opens his heart to find 
help, light, consolation; and the other wel- 
comes him with special affection and goodness, 



240 



to sustain, to raise, to encourage, and to 
enlighten, but not to reprimand harshly or to 
punish him; and he should take the special 
pains not to esteem the less the religious who 
thus discloses himself only through virtue. 

ARTICLE V.— Conclusion. 

THE GREAT MODEL OF OBEDIENCE. 

This chapter and this whole treatise cannot 
be better terminated than by recalling the 
Divine Model of obedience. 

1st. Jesus Christ, Son of God and Our Lord, 
came into this world through obedience and to 
obey. Let us listen to what He says through 
the royal Prophet and the great Apostle : " In 
the head of the book it is written of me : that 
I should do thy will, God." (1) This refers 
to the promise of a Repairer, made to the 
first man become disobedient and rebellious. 
"Well ! yes, my Father and my God, I sub- 
scribe to Thy engagement, placed on the first 
page of the Book, I have willed as Thou hast 
willed, and thy law is in the midst of my heart." 
It is thus that Our Saviour was to repair by 
His obedience the evil caused in the world by 
disobedience. And behold how entire and 
punctual was this obedience of Jesus Christ to 
His Father during the whole of His mortal 
life ! He Himself has declared " one jot, or 

(1) In capite libri scriptum est de me ut facerem volun- 
tatem tuam: Deus meus volui, et legem tuam in medio 
cordis mei. Psalm xxxix; Heb. x. 



241 

one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be 
fulfilled." (1) 

2dly. Not only did the Son of God wish, by 
His Incarnation, to assume a nature rendering 
Hirri dependent, and allowing Him to subject His 
human will to the Divine Will : but He more- 
over practiced for the love of us, during thirty 
years, the same obedience as ours, subjecting 
Himself to men, His creatures, namely to Mary 
and Joseph, in whom He recognized the 
authority of God, His Father. "And He was 
subject to them:' ; (2) this is the whole 
history of His hidden life criven us by the 
Holy Ghost. 

3rdly. Finally this Divine Model became for 
us " obedient even unto death and the death 
of the Cross :'' (3) so that during His Passion, 
He was seen to obey with incomparable meek- 
ness and humility His very enemies and execu- 
tioners: C( he shall be led as a sheep to the 
slaughter and shall be dumb as a lamb before 
his shearers, and he shall not open his 
mouth/' (4) 

Behold then the living and perfect rule of 
religious obedience — Jesus Christ, who Him- 
self says to the candidate of perfection : "Come 

(1) Iota unuru aut unus apex non praeteribit a lege donee 
omnia fiant. Matt. v. 

(2) Et erat subditis lllis. Luke, ii. 

(3) Factus obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem 
crucis. Philip, ii. 

(4) Sicut ovis ad occisionem ducetur, et quasi agnus 
coram tondente se obmutescet et non aperiet os suum. 
Isaias, liii. 

21 



242 

and follow Me." Ah! should we not repeat 
here those words of St. Paul: "And whosoever 
shall follow this rule, peace on them/' (1) 
even in this world and forever and ever? 
Amen ! 

(1) Et quicumque hanc regulam secuti fuerint, pax 
super illos. Galat. vi. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Translator's Preface iii 

Introduction v 

PART I. 

THE VOWS OF RELIGION IN GENERAL. 

Chap. I. — General notions of a Vow considered 

in the Vows of religion 1 

Art. I. — Definition of a Vow 1 

Sec. I. — The vow is a promise. — Divers kinds 
of promises that ma} 7 be made to men, 
to God . 2 

Sec. II. — The vow a deliberate promise. — 
Knowledge, — consent, — liberty. — First 
probation or Postulate. — Second probation 
or Novitiate, properly so-called 4 

Sec. III. — The Vow a promise made by man 
to God. — Reciprocal engagement of God 
towards man; — thence obligations — and 
advantages.. , 9 

Sec. IV. — The Vow a promise of a better act; 

— What act may be vowed to God 19 

Art. II. — The Vow is an act of the Virtue of 

Religion 19 

Sec. I. — Belonging to sacrifice, — it causes to 
participate in a special manner in the sac- 
rifice of Jesus Christ 19 

Sec. II. — On the virtue of religion, the proper 
virtue of religious; — its definition, — signi- 
fication of the word religion. — Our debt 
towards God. — Details of the religious 
life.— Essence of the religious spirit. — True 
exercise of the virtue of religion. — It is a 
moral, not a theological virtue. — God is 
honored by faith, hope and charity. — The 
u^me religious 20 

Sec. III. — On Devotion — substantial — acci- 
dental 33 

Sec. IV. — Religion compared with sanctity — 
Its two elements, — its degrees, — its means. 
— especially in the religious state 45 



244 



Art. III. — The bond and the obligation of the 
vow. — Can a slight thing be vowed under 
pain of grievous sin? — Yow of observing 
the rules — of avoiding venial sins 52 

Cessation of the Yow, — through impossibil- 
ity, annulment, dispensation, — commuta- 
tion. — Who possesses the power of dispens- 
ing from vow r s, of annulling them? — Of 
the religious who compels the superior to 
free him from his vows and to dismiss 
him. — Of the right of commuting one's 

own vow 54 

Chap. II. — On the excellence of the vows of reli- 
gion and the state of perfection 58 

Art. I. — Excellence of the vows of religion 58 

Sec. I.— Different kinds of vows — superiority 
of the vows of religion over all others 58 

Sec. II. — The Evangelical counsels,— they 
are of two kinds. — Can poverty, chastity 
and obedience be vowed without being a 
religious? — The vow of entering religion.. 60 

Sec. III. — The Religious profession com- 
pared to baptism. — Remission of sins — 
Death of the old man — New life 65 

Sec. IV. — The Religious profession compared 
to martyrdom — threefold martyrdom of 
the religious — martyrdom of the Cruci- 
fixion 70 

Art. II. — On the Religious state, a state of per- 
fection 77 

Sec. I. — Signification of the word state. — Dif- 
ference between a state and an office — 
Divers states 77 

Sec. II. — Proper merit of the religious state. 
— Devotedness to God in that state. — On 
the objection made that religious fly from 
the difficulties of ordinary life. — Two 
kinds of difficulties. — Merit exists more 
in the good itself than in its difficulty. — 
The religious state most suitable to those 
w T ho wish to do penance 79 



245 



Sec. III. — Essential condition of merit in 
the religious state 84 

Sec. IV. — The approbation of the Church 
necessary to a religious institute. — In what 
it consists. — To whom it belongs to give 
it. — Of the approbation of the Holy See 
and its effects. — Practical consequences of 
this approbation for the religious — for all 

the faithful.. 86 

Art. III. — Keligious Perfection 92 

Sec. I. — The perfection of the Christian life 
depends substantially on charity, and acci- 
dentally on the other virtues. — Definition 
of charity — its sole motive — its double 
object 92 

Sec. II. — The Primary object of Charity is 
Divine Love. — Love in general. — Love of 
God, — its four denominations. — Charity is 
in the will, not in the sensitive appetite. ... 9G 

Sec. III. — The Perfection of Divine Love. — 
Can a creature love God perfectly ? — Three 
kinds of perfection in the love that man 
may have for God. — The perfection of Di- 
vine love considered in its acts. — Expla- 
nation of the great precept of charity. — It 
is both perfectly and imperfect^ accom- 
plished. — To love God totally, that is all 
that is from God and to God 100 

Sec. IV. — Effects of Divine Love: interior 
— exterior 109 

Sec. V. — The second object of charity or 
love of our neighbor. — The act by which 
we love God and our neighbor is one and 
the same act. — It is more meritorious to 
love God than to love our neighbor? — 
Exposition of the precept of loving our 
neighbor. — Threefold perfection of this 
love 115 

Sec. VI.— The growths of charity. — They 
depend on God, not on man's natural vir- 
tue. — Our co-operation, however, is neces- 



246 



sary. — Charity can increase until death. — 
It can increase indefinitely. — Does it in- 
crease at every act of it made by us? — 
Direction to be followed in order to pro- 
gress in charity, when beginning, advanc- 
ing or arriving at some perfection 120 

Sec. VII. — On the diminution and the loss 

of Charity. — On the sins of religious 129 

Sec- VIII. — Charity in its relation to the 
other virtues. — It is their form. — No real 
virtue without it. — It is their mother, — con- 
ceiving their acts and giving them birth. — 
It is their foundation. — In what manner 
faith, humility and charity are the founda- 
tions of the other virtues. — It is their bond, 
collecting and retaining them all in per- 
fect unity. — It is their end, all serving it to 
reach its oivn end, — especially the three 
consecrated by the religious vows 134 

Art. IV. — The means of perfection found in the 

religious state 141 

Sec. I. — Means of the first order, the three 

vows of religion 141 

Sec. II. — Secondary means, the rules. — What 
is a rule? — Rectitude its essential quality — 
its two functions, — to direct and to correct — 
the Rule of an institute, — the rides. — The 
practice of virtue according to the rules. — 
Obligation of tending to perfection by the 
observance of the rules 148 

Art. V. — The vows of religion are made accord- 
ing to the Rule of each institute. — Divers 
degrees of religious perfection.— Personal 
perfection and its growth 154 

Art. VI. — Comparison of the different states in 
the Church considered in reference to per- 
fection. — Distinction of states, offices and 
degrees. — Incidental question: — Do reli- 
. gious belong to the hierarchy? — Double 
hierarchy, of Divine law and ecclesiastical 
law. — The latter divided into two kinds, 



247 

the principal and general hierarchy — and 
the special hierarchy of regulars. — Func- 
tions of the regular clergy in the Church.. 157 
Chap. III. — On the different kinds of vows of reli- 
gion 164 

Art. I. — On the religious state in general and of 

institutes in particular 164 

Art. II. — On the variety of religious institutes.. 167 

Sec. I. — The causes of this variety 167 

Sec. II. — Three principal kinds of religious 
institutes, according as contemplative, 
active or mixed life is led therein.— Com- 
parison among them 169 

Art. III. — Solemn, Simple, perpetual and tem- 
porary vows of religion; — compensation 
which may be found in an inferior voca- 
tion. — Admission to the vows of religion, 
— three principal conditions to their valid- 
ity. — Duration of the novitiate 172 

Art. IV. — Concerning the desire a religious may 

feel to pass to another institute 176 

Art. V. — Esteem and love of one's own vocation 180 
Chap. IV. — The Virtues which are the object of the 

three vows of religion t 184 

Art. I. — Differences existing between the Vow 

and the virtue. — Of the religious who after 

having made the Vow, neglect the Virtue, 

— three classes of religious in communities 184 

Art. II. — Obligations resulting from religious 

profession besides those of the vows 190 

Sec. 1. — What are those obligations ? 190 

Sec. II. — Duties of religious Fraternity 191 

Sec. III.— Of Evangelical detachment from 
one's parents 196 

PART II. 

THE THREE VOWS OF RELIGION IX PARTICULAR. 

Chap. I.— Religious Poverty 204 

Art. I. — Two Principles of Evangelical Poverty 204 
Sec. I. — It attacks cupidity, the first enemy 
of salvation and of perfection 204 



248 

Sec. II. — It is the wall of religion 207 

Art. II.— The Vow of poverty 213 

Sec. I. — This vow considered in the religious 
who makes it. — It forbids the right of pos- 
sessing, or at least that of disposing at will, 
of temporal goods; — its different matter 
and extent according to divers institutes. — 
Its violation, — on the permission that pre- 
vents this violation 213 

Sec. II. — Influence of the vow on the poverty 
common to the whole order — its differences 
— its degrees of perfection 217 

Art. III. — The virtue of poverty, — to what it 
binds even outside the vow. — Undue affec- 
tion for temporal objects. — Superfluities. — 
Life in common. — The peculium. — Con- 
cerning the distribution of the temporal 
^oods of which the rejigious despoil them- 
selves. — The practice and the degrees of 

perfection of the virtue of poverty 221 

Chap. II. — Keligious chastity. — The Yow and the 
virtue. — The means of preserving it intact, — 

its advantages 227 

Chap. III. — Eeligious obedience 229 

Art. I. — Divers principles on obedience in gen- 
eral 229 

Art. II. — Obedience compared with the other 

virtues 232 

Art. III. — The vow of obedience, — its superior- 
ity over the other two, — to what it obliges, 
— simple orders of superiors. — Obligation 
of the rules. — Religious discipline. — Faults 
against obedience. — Perfection of this vir- 
tue and its three degrees 234 

Art. IV. — On the Manifestation of conscience 

to the Superior and on direction 236 

Art. V. — Conclusion. — Jesus Christ Our Lord 

the living and perfect rule of obedience. ... 240 



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